Lost Issue: French CD Reviews from 1998 (Part One of Two)
Here's a small stockpile of lusciousunused album reviews from fouryears
ago. There's nothing at all wrong with them. Except that they weren't used.
And that we don't know who wrote them. Whoever wrote them, if you see this,
please let us know that this is your fine work so we can give you credit...
Georges Delerue: 30 years of Film music **** 1/2
GEORGES DELERUE
EMI/Odeon Soundtracks 493538 2
CD 1: 29 tracks/74:26; CD 2 28 tracks - 74:18
Delerue fans everywhere: rejoice! At long last, here's a 2CD compilation
encompassing most of the composer's greatest achievements, but most importantly
featuring a good deal of never-before-released material (27 new tracks).
Collectors will not only find classics of the composer's vast output (Jules
et Jim, Le Mépris, The Last Metro...) but will be introduced
to lesser-known selections, like the charming and playful scores penned
for Philippe De Broca's buoyant comedies: King of Hearts or Chinese
Adventures in China. Co-produced by Colette Delerue, widow of the composer,
this album fills a wide gap in the composer's discography and will certainly
please fans of the composer. To foreign collectors, it offers an excellent
and very large sampling of Delerue's French works. Only three English speaking
movies are included here: The Day of the Dolphin, the Oscar-winning
but slight A Little Romance, Interlude and Ken Russell's
wacky Women In Love. The set is constructed chronologically, from
1962 (peak of the French new-wave) through 1992. For those of you familiar
with Delerue's wonderful American scores, rest assured: his French work
displays the same lyricism and charm, matched by a sense of haunting nostalgia.
Just listen to the elegiac "Concerto de l'Adieu" (Farewell Concerto), written
for Pierre Schoendoerffer's Dien Bien Phu, a gallic version of Oliver
Stone's Platoon. This 2CD set also offers us two songs composed
by Delerue. One of them, the lovely "Three Little notes of music," was
later made famous when reprised by Yves Montand. This new release is a
true gem, with an attractive booklet to boot. Sound quality may vary, alternating
between mono and mostly stereo selections. I urge admirers of the late
composer to get their hands on this most recent release. It's worth the
price.
Le Roi et l'Oiseau ****1/2
WOJCIECH KILAR
Playtime PL 970936
24 tracks - 47:27
Before writing outstanding scores for Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula
and recently for Jane Campion's underrated The Portrait of a Lady,
Polish composer Wojciech Kilar penned an achingly beautiful score for Le
Roi et l'Oiseau (The Bird and the King). This strange animated
feature released in 1980 was the longtime work of director Paul Grimault,
a wizard of animation, whose poetic and compassionate look at human nature
were matched by his poetic and individualistic personality. Kilar still
considers this score to be one of his two or three favorites. I can only
agree with him! It's just gorgeous, and will undoubtedly seduce fans of
The Portrait of a Lady and Bram Stoker's Dracula. This orchestral
score showcases a short piano sonata ("Main Title"), backed by contemplative
string writing. It serves as a connective theme, fully developed in later
cues with harpsichord and solo flute. Its gentle strains and melodic style
sometimes recall Frederic Chopin. Wisely, Kilar eschews the pitfalls of
mickey-mousing, emphasizing instead a series of beautifully crafted pseudo-classical
compositions (polka, sonata, et al.) This is truly an highly accomplished
work: melodic, varied and enthralling. Among animated feature scores, it
must rank next to Bernstein's Heavy Metal and Goldsmith's The
Secret of N.I.M.H. Kilar sometimes evokes the style of Nino Rota and
the bittersweet atmosphere of Chaplin's score for City Lights, rather
than the muscularity of Hans Zimmer's The Lion King. But if you
enjoyed the pounding, percussive style of the Dracula score, you'll
be quite taken with this album, also featuring the ominous obsessive drive
heard in Coppola's flawed epic. Kudos to Playtime Records for putting out
on CD a long out-of-print French LP. They even beefed it up with three
nice previously unreleased selections from La Table Tournante. The score
was again composed by Kilar in 1988, for a tribute to Paul Grimault, produced
by the late Jacques Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), himself a
long-time admirer of Grimault's universe. The booklet, featuring an all-new
interview with Kilar, and excellent sound quality add to the enjoyment.
A spellbinding score.
Le Bossu **1/2
PHILIPPE SARDE
Virgin 8453482
14 tracks - 46:10
Le Bossu (The Hunchback) is a widescreen swashbuckler
that made big bucks at the box-office last winter. Try to imagine a French
version of The Man in the Iron Mask, but this time better made and
scored (not a difficult task, right?). Directed with flair by Philippe
De Broca, returning to his glorious days of Cartouche, the film
remains a pleasant entertainment, featuring a convincing performance by
Daniel Auteuil (A French Woman, Manon of the Springs). For
the music, De Broca called upon the services of the ubiquitous Philippe
Sarde, who gave him a nice, effective score, reminiscent of George Delerue
(De Broca's longtime collaborator). Sarde cleverly avoids any reference
to Korngold, the master of the swashbuckler, opting instead for a nice
recreation of baroque music, filtered though through contemporary orchestrations.
The "Overture" evokes the festive style of Antonio Vivaldi and sets the
stage for an amiable orchestral romp. Sarde also interpolates Mascagni's
lyrical Cavalleria Rusticana, adding a certain touch of class and emotion
to the proceedings. Other tracks ("Caylus' Wedding) seem imbued with an
authentic sound of medieval music, unfortunately at odds with the movie's
historical setting: 17th century France. "The Fantastic Night" reminds
me of an Italian tarantella distorted by echoes of Shostakovich. Now, this
is hard to imagine! And yes, there is also some nice a cappela writing
("Aurore de Nevers"). Overall, this is a pleasing score, that could certainly
have tried a bit harder. Given the epic and romantic subject, it's too
bad Sarde doesn't attempt something fresher and bolder than the final result.
Still, listening to Nick Glennie-Smith's awful Zimmeresque scoring for
The Man in the Iron Mask doesn't suggest a more convincing alternative!
The Sarde score, featuring an highly polished performance by the London
Symphony Orchestra, recorded in the spacious acoustics of Abbey Road's
studio 1 contribute to my appreciation of this album. -- FSM
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