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Ships 12th December
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Yes, this certainly deserves its own thread.
The Tadlow recording is splendid of course but no mattter how good, there is no substitute for having Rozsa conduct his own score with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It's a pity - and not a little baffling - that the film was such a colossal box office flop. United Artists were apparently all set to release an LP when the film was first released but due to the film's failure the copies were destroyed. Ah well, better late than never.
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Wonderful score by the master Miklos. But let's us not forget how the movie industry, the movie going public and society generally speaking in the 68 till 72 period was very topsy turvy. Where a lot of popular standards in society were frown upon, from big screen musicals, westerns, war films, to empty ballparks etc etc.If it is always a gamble to know what is the sure product to be successful in the business world, it surely was in those years.
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I saw this film at The London Pavilion in Piccadilly Circus in December 1970. Can't remember how full the cinema was. Since then it's always been one of my favourites.
Would have loved to have seen the extended version. It's cultural vandalism that the score tapes have been lost. As I said in the OP, this is the best version we are ever likely to get of the original film score. So, many thanks to Quartet for their work on this release.
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United Artists were apparently all set to release an LP when the film was first released but due to the film's failure the copies were destroyed. Ah well, better late than never.
If a release was actually planned in 1970, you would think multiple tapes would have circulated among the executives and publicity people of both the film company and the record company. Odd that they should all have been lost.
"Planning" an album is not the same as actually preparing the tape masters. It's my impression that the idea never went beyond the discussion stage. What we know for sure is that a recent search of the EMI archives on both sides of the Atlantic turned up nothing in the way of tapes. And while that's not proof that they never existed, it's odd, as Rozsaphile suggests, that nothing has come to light in over four decades!
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Posted: |
Dec 5, 2013 - 9:41 PM
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By: |
PFK
(Member)
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United Artists were apparently all set to release an LP when the film was first released but due to the film's failure the copies were destroyed. Ah well, better late than never.
If a release was actually planned in 1970, you would think multiple tapes would have circulated among the executives and publicity people of both the film company and the record company. Odd that they should all have been lost.
"Planning" an album is not the same as actually preparing the tape masters. It's my impression that the idea never went beyond the discussion stage. What we know for sure is that a recent search of the EMI archives on both sides of the Atlantic turned up nothing in the way of tapes. And while that's not proof that they never existed, it's odd, as Rozsaphile suggests, that nothing has come to light in over four decades!
I've mentioned this before, but I'll tell this story again.
I was in the Navy in Long Beach CA 1968 to 1972. On some Saturdays I would take the bus to Hollywood and look for soundtrack LPs. I saw Sherlock Holmes when it came out. I remember at least one movie poster saying near the bottom: "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Available on United Artist Records and Tapes."
No Hollywood record stores had such an LP. In Jan. 1971 I went to United Artist Records in Hollywood and much to my surprise they were friendly and let me in their huge warehouse with the manager of course. I asked the manager about the Sherlock Holmes LP and he said right away that it was planned but now canceled because the film was doing poorly. I doubt any copies were actually made. They even let me search the cut-out section but no Sherlock Holmes LP. I did buy some other UA LPs for $1.00 each!
So, that's my Sherlock Holmes story.
I always thought this film was wonderful. It was made a few years too late though. By the mid-late 1960s Hollywood's golden age was all but gone. The "in" films were things like MASH, Catch 22, Easy Rider, The Graduate etc. There was little interest in a class act like Billy Wilder. I'm surprised in the 1970s Wilder was still allowed to make a few more films.
So it goes with the next generation ........
Anyway, I'm very excited about this new CD! 
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The Tadlow recording is splendid of course but no mattter how good, there is no substitute for having Rozsa conduct his own score with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
A sentiment that Rózsa himself, or indeed any classically trained composer, would never EVER support. Orchestral music is subject to INTERPRETATION and, thus, variation.
The Tadlow disc is one of the best Prague-recorded albums. I got both this and the suite (8'30 or so) that Rózsa himself recorded for Polydor as few years later (with the same orchestra), but I would have bought this new edition in a heartbeat if the sound were any better.
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I wonder how complete this is.
The site's demo track of "Gabrielle" is only about 90 seconds long, but I hope the full track contains the music for Holmes' encounter with a sleepwalking Gabrielle (a rather brilliant pseudo love scene that) and discovers the inky imprint of a ticket number on her hand. The music there is simply stunning. It's Gabrielle's theme again, of course, but played with a sumptuous and delirious intensity particularly toward the climax.. I've not heard a better performance of that ANYWHERE else, even on the Tadlow or other recordings of Rozsa's Violin Concerto from which the passage is derived.
I'd really like to know if that part of the cue is included on the new CD. That would be the clincher for me.
The complete track is 5:19, and yes, the passage you mention is included. Guess it's clinched.
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