Intrada has just released their entry for the Rozsa centenary celebration, Spellbound.  This re-recording featuring Allan Wilson conducting the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra is a welcome addition to the Golden Age discography.  The performances are in keeping with the style of of the period.  Wilson's leadership manages to make the score have the kind of dynamic ebb and flow that one would only expect in the film proper.  It is almost as if the ensemble is playing to picture throughout.

Spellbound is one of those odd Hitchcock movies.  It has the murder element buried deep within its text but instead focuses on psychological drama in a somewhat experimental way.  Rozsa used a theremin, an early electronic instruement, to depict the psychosis of the film's main character.  The instrument would later be used in countless sci-fi and horror films of the 1950s and beyond.

The orchestra here plays esquisitely.  The solos are well-detailed throughout.  The recording has a clear, yet warm, sound that honors the way a film score sounds over how this might sound in concert.  The "Love Theme" is performed here about as good as it could possibly be.  There is music making here that is in a class by itself and Intrada deserves a round of applause by fans of film music for their efforts.

You can order the CD at www.intrada.com

(Well, I had written this yesterday but just as I went to post it our internet connection went down.  So here it is.)

It has been a somewhat slow month this past May but here are 5 of my favorite "new" to the library here in no particular order.

First off is Denver Brass Play John Williams.  The recording came out last year and features arrangements of the composers music from some of his favorite film scores.  They all work very well and this is a wonderful release.  Completists take note that the premiere recording of the Winter Games Fanfare appears here.  It does not have the same immediately catchy tune but within the form it works well.  There is also a suite of sorts of themes from the Star Wars films.  They are linked by variations on "Yoda's Theme" that begins each track sometimes not working as well but it is an interesting take. 

Next up is The Enforcer.  I reviewed this release earlier this week so check out Tuesday's blog for a fuller review.  Jerry Fielding is well-respected in the film music community and this release for one of the Dirty Harry films is one of his most accessible to the casual film music fan.  Fielding's music is rewarding and not always filled with the simple tunes popular during the 1960s and 1970s.  The disc officially appears June 26.

April was the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Miklos Rozsa.  To celebrate, Varese Sarabande put together a 3-disc budget set of re-recordings that is an essential collection for any music library.  Many of Rozsa's recordings of music from Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, King of Kings, and El Cid have been widely available over the years, so Varese wisely opted to include some other recordings of music from these films which are no less wonderful to hear.  The set covers the 40+ years of the composer's career and of great interest are the selections from some of the last scores in Rozsa's career.  The last CD ends appropriately with a suite of music from Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.  Another highlight occurs on disc two where we get a 2-piano version of the Spellbound Concerto and another 2-piano and orchestra piece, New England Concerto, with themes from films taking place in the Northeast.  (Also highly recommended is Tadlow's new re-recording of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes released on-line and in a hard copy late last month.)

Taking a turn from the other releases mentioned here is the score for Pirates 3.  It's the first big blockbuster score of the year and it gives you a lot of bang for its buck.  I reviewed it here last week on the blog.  Basically it combines that Bruckheimer film music style with some of the more subtle orchestration and approaches that Zimmer used on last year's The Da Vinci Code.  I'm usually not a big Zimmer fan, but his last few scores seem to be taking the composer in new directions that are integrating his older approach with something decidedly different.

Finally, I picked up a copy of Rolfe Kent's score for Reign Over Me.  This jazz-styled score has some parallels with his more popular and lauded music for Sideways but tends to be a bit more understated.  There are a couple of theme tracks with semi-improvisational performances to round off the album.