Intrada Special Collection Reviews

The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958) ****

HUGO FRIEDHOFER

Intrada Special Collection Volume 4

21 tracks - 52:42
 

Silver Streak (1976) **** 1/2

HENRY MANCINI

Intrada Special Collection Volume 5

32 tracks - 79:17
(20 tracks, mono presentation: 47:43; 12 tracks, stereo presentation: 31:28)
 

Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985) *** 1/2

LAURENCE ROSENTHAL

Intrada Special Collection Volume 7

Disc One: 28 tracks - 58:07 Disc Two: 26 tracks - 58:47

Those unfamiliar with the music of Hugo Friedhofer are missing out on a lot of wonderful writing. Little of his work appears on CD, save the occasional appearances of excerpts from An Affair to Remember. Stromberg and Morgan also put together a good representation of his music a few years back (Marco Polo 8.223857). The welcome release of The Barbarian and the Geisha puts an interesting score in the hands of collectors. Like FSM's own The Bravados, the score was recorded by the Graunke Orchestra due to an ongoing musician's strike at the time (1958). The recording shows Friedhofer's harmonic language to be far richer than the norm for this time period.

Instead of using Japanese instruments, Friedhofer manages to get the feel and sound of the Orient (though as heard through Western ears) through masterful orchestrations of traditional Western instruments. The opening track is a case in point, where the sound of the Orient opens the "Foreword" before moving into a gorgeous theme for Okichi (the female protagonist in the film). While this score may not be high on your list of desired acquisitions, it is highly recommended.

It's continually surprising that Henry Mancini's work is so underrepresented on CD. Most of what is available are recordings with his big band or orchestra. Apart from the relatively inexpensive Buddha Records release of music from The Pink Panther and some music from Peter Gunn, there is little else floating around. Intrada begins to remedy this problem with the wonderful score from Silver Streak. This initial teaming of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor is one of my favorite guilty pleasures of the 1970s. Mancini's score is so wonderfully light and sophisticated that it brings the film up to a level that probably was undeserving. The "Main Title" is easily one of the finest of the decade and the score as a whole among the best of 1976. Intrada's mono presentation is clean and crisp, presenting many cues unheard even in the film. While listening to the disc, those familiar with the movie will be amazed at how much the images come to mind. Still, the music in the film itself is not so blatantly there as to distract you. Therein lies the mastery of one of film music's great composers of the "Silver Age."

It's worth mentioning that Mancini incorporates a variety of electronic keyboards into the fabric of his music alongside wonderful solo piano work. This is probably less "amazing" to those familiar with current drum machines and synthetic capabilities, but it is truly an "advance" in Mancini's sound that he continued to use in comedic scoring to the point where it became a stylistic expression. John Williams' fans will hear Mancini's influence in the beautiful piano solos in "Hilly's theme" that recur at important points throughout the score. Mancini's dramatic music is also exemplary and Intrada has even included the "source music" Mancini composed for the film ("Club Car Rock" is a fun example). The energy of Bernard Herrmann, a reference to the Hitchcock homage attempted in the film, also gets a brief nod in "Runaway Train." Also retained are Mancini's original track titles, which reflect his sharp sense of humor. Intrada has given us another important link between the transitions in the film music of the 1960s and the 1980s.

Finally, we have Laurence Rosenthal's monumental score to the 1985 mini-series on Mussolini. The '80s were filled with these elongated movies-of-the-week. If anything, they offered many composers otherwise ignored by Hollywood the chance to write excellent music to fill the great divide. It is hard to imagine what this music must have sounded like buried beneath dialogue and broadcast through mono channels (the recording is in stereo). The "Main Title" recalls a Verdian march and sets the tone for the rest of the score. There are other times when some Nino Rota sneaks in, and I was continually reminded of scores like Death on the Nile and Bennett's Murder on the Orient Express. It's hard to believe that the Godfather-like melodic contour in "Villa Torlonia" (which recurs in later tracks) was not intentional. Rosenthal's main melodic idea also sounds like something out of Miklós Rósza's epic mold. The score overall is a great deal of fun to listen to, as different ideas are recast along with the Mussolini motif that reappears in practically every cue. The performance by the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra lends a dark, rich quality to the music, even in the more Italianate sections. Overall, this is a CD that will appeal immensely to Rosenthal fans.  -- Steven A. Kennedy

Comments regarding this review can be sent to this address: stev4uth@hotmail.com.
 

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