SUPERHEROES!

Adam West, narrator.; Julie Spangler, piano. May Festival Youth Chorus,
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/John Morris Russell
Fanfare Cincinnati 002
Total Time:  55:39
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

The unexpected death of Erich Kunzel, long time conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, was a great loss to the music world and especially fans of orchestral film pops recordings.  The long history of great film music releases is an amazing legacy of popular and classic film music presented in stellar sound, though at times marred (depending on one’s point of view) by the addition of “special effects”.  The orchestra’s new conductor, John Morris Russell, debuted with the orchestra in an initial Christmas pops release.  This second release certainly is a return to the interesting program choices that Kunzel brought to disc and focuses on music from superhero films and television series.

Pops recordings are certainly an acquired taste for those who prefer “original” soundtrack performances.  Often the music is re-orchestrated, or adapted more specifically, to the needs of the ensemble often showing off various sections.  For an album such as this, one is easily appreciative of the Pops’ great brass section on display throughout the included selections.  One of the hallmarks of more recent Pops releases is a need to connect with younger audiences and the inclusion of an “arrangement” of the “Iron Man” song by Black Sabbath may do that to some extent.  It is the concluding work on the album and while well-realized, may be the one thing that wears thin over time.  The same might be said for the songs “Star-Spangled Man” and “Make Way for Tomorrow Today” which tend to shift us closer to Broadway-esque musical styles.  They are essentially contrasting material to the surrounding orchestral excitement.  There is also a unique arrangement by Rebecca Pellett of some classic superhero TV themes in a medley called “To The Rescue!”  Some will smile at the inclusion of tunes here and Adam West’s great, and somewhat hammy, narration.  One tune tends to receive too much focus however.

All of that said, the remainder of the album features some fabulous performances and is intelligently chosen from a wide swath of contemporary and classic film scores.  Elfman’s slow-building theme for Spider-Man opens the album and is well done, though not terribly impressive.  Next follows the “Captain’s March” from Silvestri’s Captain America score.  The piece is well-played but all too brief needing a bit more filling out to the four, or five-minute mark (it is just over two minutes in length).  Pete Anthony’s arrangement from The Dark Knight allows for some interesting contemporary orchestral scoring examples and is a could inclusion here.  Anthony also has a premiere recording of a commissioned piece, “The Launch”, which appears later on the album.  It is a good Copland-meets-Williams sort of fanfare to show off the orchestra.  One of the great surprises here is music from Goldsmith’s Supergirl.  The “End Credits” music receive a fine performance (minus electronic effects from the original score) and perhaps the orchestra will consider an all Goldsmith release at some point as it is obvious there is an affinity for this music.  It is followed by what may be one of the best pops recordings of Williams’ “Superman March” (including the composer’s own with Boston!).  The recording is helped by crisp playing, spot-on tempi and great audio.  The album then continues with music from more contemporary superhero films.  The suite from Thor seems a bit underwhelming musically.  The Debney selection from Iron Man 2 (“I Am Iron Man”) and John Powell’s “End Credits” from X-MEN: The Last Stand both show their musical roots in the superhero settings fo Williams and Goldsmith and make for great contrasts to the material that surrounds them on the disc.  Another of the disc’s highlights is the gorgeous “Lonely Man Theme” from Joe Harnell’s The Incredible Hulk score.  It is beautifully played by Julie Spangler in her own touching arrangement.

The variety of newer scores is certainly a positive feature of this release.  The inclusion of a couple lesser known scores helps introduce older music to young audiences as well.  The only real complaint is that the album is too short at only 55 minutes.  Many selections are at the 2-minute mark and it feels like more music within these selections would have helped fill out the album.  That said, this is really superb music making with excellent recording.  Certainly, this is another great entry in the Cincinnati Pops film music discography that bodes well for a successful future for them with their new conductor.

June proved to be a great month for fans of limited edition music.  The summer blockbuster season also meant a few new power scores were released as well.  But many are not terribly interesting.  Here are five recently acquired discs that stand out in June 2011.

The most unusual entry in the mix was a new release of concerti by the Baroque composer Graupner.  The Carus disc was reviewed here and you re encouraged to check that review out.  It is hard sometimes to make concerti that essentially were written as showpieces for period artists that keep one's interest. But the mix of bassoon with a few other concerto combinations helps make this a most satisfying release.

Also important is Cedille's release (reviewed here) of The Pulitzer Project.  The Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus introduces two world premiere recordings of important works by William Schuman and, more importantly Leo Sowerby ("Canticle of the Sun") as well as a fine performance of Copland's Appalachian Spring.

Intrada made many fans happy with the release of the original soundtrack for Masada.  The first two parts of the mini-series were scored by Jerry Goldsmith and the last two by Morton Stevens (using some of Goldsmith's themes).  The sound is superb as are the accompanying notes and this fills in an important whole in the Goldsmith discography.  (Note this is not the re-recording Goldsmith later made of this score.)

Varese Sarabande's club releases included The Alfred Hitchcock Hour-Volume One.  The release was set to coincide with Bernard Herrmann's 100th Birthday celebration.  These are truly fascinating scores that come at a time when his film music opportunities began to dry up.  If you particulary enjoy his 1960s scores, especially Farenheit 451, or his work on The Twilight Zone tv series, this will be worth your time.  Herrmann enthusiasts need not hesitate, but this is a limited edition release and one can hope that the rest of these scores will soon be on their way.

Finally, the score for the 1927 Fritz Lang film, Metropolis, has made it to CD in a fantastic new recording from Capriccio.  The score has been reconstructed and is conducted by Frank Strobel whose work on early film scores (especially some rare Shostakovivh works) has been stellar.  What is most fascinating in this score is how much of what we associate with "Golden Age" Hollywood style is on display.  Here is the score that inspired Korngold, Waxman, and Steiner and perhaps guided their own early film score efforts.  This is one release not to be missed whether you enjoy Golden Age film music, or Late-Romantic music.  The CD was reviewed at the beginning of July.