CD Reviews: Maurice Jarre Compilation and Spirited Away
Maurice Jarre: The Emotion and Strength ***
MAURICE JARRE
Milan 73138-35980-2
Disc One:10 tracks - 50:05 Disc Two: 11 tracks - 67:40
Outside of John Williams, Maurice Jarre was one of the few film composers
I actually remember seeing on television growing up. I specifically remember
watching Jarre's acceptance speech when he received his well-deserved Golden
Globe for A Walk in the Clouds -- a great score. While he has continued
to be active, he seems to have lost the interest of such crowds of late.
This is most unfortunate because Jarre has amazing orchestrational gifts
and when he manages to create an extended theme it is generally wonderful.
Even though I am not a big fan of his electronic "experiments" they matched
the films for which they were written very well. I have never seen him
in concert. From the recordings included here, it would seem that Jarre
rushes through his "big tunes" while working very hard to gain appreciation
for some of the lesser heard scores when he is on stage or re-recording
something. It is clear that his soundtrack work is a different experience
for him as a conductor. The selections included from the "original soundtracks"
just have a different musical feel than those made as separate recordings.
For some, this new "budget-priced," two-disc Milan release will make
a welcome companion to a recent Maurice Jarre Silva set (with only minor
duplication). The Silva set managed to put together a goodly representation
of Jarre's music. This new set provides a mix of both the "classic" and
the new. The organization of the disc itself is a strange one. It's not
chronological and it seems that the arrangement generally alternates atmospheric
score cues with the more tune-filled ones, especially on disc one. The
selections from Dead Poet's Society, A Walk in the Clouds, Uprising
and Sunshine appear to be original soundtrack recordings. The
remainder of the set is a mixture of live and recorded performances that
are not clearly marked.
The opening to disc one is a previously unreleased piece for trumpet(s).
Unfortunately, it's not terribly interesting and is immediately overshadowed
by the rambunctious music from Grand Prix. The "Overture" here does
not have the same jazzy vitality that infuses its original appearance (formerly
available on a Chapter III reissue), but it's still an adequate pops performance
that even includes race car sound effects. Applause signals the reality
that this is a live performance, helping to explain some of the muddiness
and ensemble problems. The music from Witness, perhaps the most
famous cue from the score, receives an adequate performance but is devoid
of feeling. The "Suite" from The Tin Drum fares far better and is
excellently unsettling and poignant. The "End Titles" from Ghost seem
a bit rushed though the timing is dead on from the OST. The music from
Gorillas in the Mist is grandly performed here and is a highlight
of the concert recordings included on disc one. The BBC orchestra redeems
itself for the "Main Title" from Villa Rides, which the audience
enthusiastically endorses. This track practically bleeds into the closing
"Suite" from Dr. Zhivago, beautifully performed by the RPO in a
"live" recording.
Disc two is far more interesting. It opens promisingly with a fine performance
of music from The Man Who Would Be King. The "Suite" from A Passage
to India includes a number of the main thematic moments and receives
a "live," pop-ish performance with occasional string ensemble intonation
problems. The "Suite" from The Year of Living Dangerously makes
a good case for this under-appreciated score. The same is true of "The
White Wolf" from Shadow of the Wolf, but this is not an "easy-listening"
piece of music. This provides a stark contrast to the beautiful piano solo
that opens the following "Suite" from the excellent score for Fatal
Attraction. This is another highlight of the set because here the music
is shaped more than in other selections. The "Suite" from Ryan's Daughter
is well-performed and moves along at quite a pace. The "Main Title"
from Uprising is in the same vein as the Shadow of the Wolf
but is more interesting musically. (Note that the recording information
lists an adult and children's choir, but they are not performing in this
selection from what must be the original soundtrack recording.) The RPO
gives their all in the longest suite in the collection featuring music
from Lawrence of Arabia. "Paris en Colere," from Is Paris Burning?
serves as an innocuous encore.
Milan's color scheme for the accompanying booklet is a warm dark blue
background. The inner booklet leaves a great deal to be desired. There
is little information about any of the music. Unlike Silva's common cue
titles that are listed in their "Suites," there is just a blank "Suite"
listed for several of the selections. And surely there must have been a
clearer way of crediting the various source material for this compilation
not to mention the fact that there are listings for performers that are
not even used in the music included.
One has to wonder just who the market will be for such a release. Since
Jarre completists will likely own the original score releases if not these
"concert" performances. It would be difficult to justify this set for the
previously unreleased fanfare that opens disc one. The press release accompanying
my copy touts this new CD as including "songs" from a variety of films.
It is a statement that reveals a lack of understanding about film music
in general, but maybe I'm just picking nits again. Offered at a bargain
price, this is a fair overview even if the performances are a mixed bag,
but this master deserves far better than this slap dash effort.
-- Steven A. Kennedy
Comments regarding this review can be sent to this address: stev4uth@hotmail.com.
Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi) (2001) ****
JOE HISAISHI
Tokuma Music/Ever Anime International A8-1389
21 tracks - 60:02
Spirited Away represents the latest and, sadly, maybe the last
collaboration between the increasingly popular Joe Hisaishi and Japan's
greatest living animator Miyazaki Hayao. This partnership has produced
some of the finest scores to have ever graced animated film, including
those for Laputa: The Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke and the
magnificent Porco Rosso. How does Spirited Away fare in comparison?
Well, here goes...
The film concerns the tale of Ogita Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who,
along with the rest of her family, is trapped in a mysterious town that
is actually the domain of various nasty creatures. The captured Chihiro
is renamed Sen and forced to work in the local bathhouse (!) where she
plots rebellion against those in charge, bids to release her family from
their fate as Pigs, and eventually make good their escape back home (I'm
not making this up!). Given the above scenario, one wonders what Execs
at the ultra-conservative Disney Corporation (especially given that it
was partly financed by them) made of it when they saw it!
"Ano Natsu he (One Summer Day)" opens the album and, as is becoming
a Hisaishi trademark, kicks things off with somber piano and strings (these
come off as a reworked version of his theme for Kitano Takeshi's Kikujiro)
before giving way to a rockingly powerful rendition for the whole orchestra,
(structurally reminiscent of the midsection in the famous Arctic Whale
Hunt cue in Henry Mancini's The White Dawn).
Other standouts include "Ryuu no Shounen (Dragon Boy)," a rollicking
shot of orchestral adrenaline you can't get out of your brain. "Boiler
Mushi (Sootballs)" is a jaunty, classically styled piece that's almost
a mini Piano concerto, full of balletic woodwind writing. Kaonashi underscores
the meeting between Sen and the mysterious creature Kaonashi with pounding
Japanese percussion and ultra-low brass, giving way to surging string and
brass work and concluding with an explosive percussion finale -- high-end
audio owners beware!
I could also talk about the Kamenesque "Yubaaba Kyouran (Yubaaba's Panic)"
and the wonderful "Futatabi (Reprise)," which is an instant masterpiece
of orchestration. The album concludes with the film's official song "Itsumo
Nando demo (Always With Me)," composed and sung by Kimura Yumi, who accompanies
herself on the Lyre. The song is rather folkish in tone, but Yumi's voice
is a tad grating.
The production values are outstanding. The score is brilliantly played
by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, which treats Hisaishi's music
with the care it deserves, and it gets a typically stunning digital recording
by Tanaka Shinichi, one of the world's great orchestra mixers, recorded
at the Yomiuri Triphony Hall in Tokyo -- this is not a scoring studio,
and the difference is clear. Tanaka produces a recording of an uncommonly
tactile presence and immediacy without the blatantly obvious overdubbing
that you get on many American scores. This is definitely the best engineered
film score you'll hear in 2002.
All told, this is outstanding music beautifully presented, and a fitting
epitaph to one of the great director/composer collaborations of recent
years -- and Hisaishi continues to impress. Rather than pay high Japanese
import prices, FSM readers may wish to know the the CD can be found
for a more reasonable price at http://www.yesasia.com. -- Jamie McLean
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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