November 2, 2010

  • Best of October (2010): New to the "Collection"

    The month of October was fairly slow and the transition away from hard copy CDs is beginning to be the norm rather than the exception.  I have not decided yet whether to post recordings that are downloadable only here on the blog--there are some rare exceptions when a personal request allows that to happen.  The favorite selections that came my way this past month are mostly from a single label.

     

    I'll begin though with Varese Sarabande's latest club release, A Gathering of Eagles.  This early Jerry Goldsmith score serves as a sort of dry run for his military dramas of the period.  I have to say that like The Spiral Road I hear some Herrmann every once in a while in these earlier scores.  There is something about the way Jerry is orchestrating these early pieces that fascinatingly moves between a style that is modeled on those of the past 10-15 years of film scoring and the development of his own personal style.  The liner notes are unfortunately too conversational in tone.  (I know that sounds odd in a blog setting, but the blog is free, and this is a "high-end" collector's product so you should expect a bit more.)

     

    The other media-related score was just reviewed here last week, Murray Gold's Doctor Who, Series 4--The Specials.  These 2 discs feature some great orchestral scoring with engaging themes and a wonderful variety of musical approaches to material that make for a wonderful couple of hours of listening. 

     

    The other three in my Top Five for the month are all on the Naxos label and were reviewed here this past month.  Among them, my hands down favorite is the first volume of "Shakespeare Overtures" by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.  These are fine orchestral pieces that shift between being overture-"like" or more like tone poems, one can revel in the beautiful colors and cinematic writing that runs through these works.  Looking forward to more on the second volume.

     

    Piazzolla's music continues to be in the forefront these days.  His Four Seasons of Buenos Aires will be played here in St. Paul this year.  The Naxos disc features this piece, a symphony, and a popular Bandoneon concerto.  All are well played from Nashville and is a worthy edition to your music library.

     

    And finally the orchestral music of Jack Gallagher is featured in a collection that includes a fascinating Symphony, and several shorter works.  Film music listeners will enjoy the narrative quality of this music and everyone should find the thematic writing and colorful orchestral sound worth their time as well.

     

    Supposedly we will be seeing the RCA re-issues of Charles Gerhardt's Film Music Series soon along with a host of special releases as we get closer to Oscar-bait season.  Happy listening!