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Posted: |
Mar 22, 2014 - 3:20 PM
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By: |
TxIrish
(Member)
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Howdy all, I rarely post, but I'll make another post (I often find answers to questions by searching): I was wondering what people thought of the difference between the Rhino and Intrada releases of Bernard Herrmann's "North by Northwest"?
Background: I first purchased NxNW conducted by Laurie Johnson, and while some here like it, I was immediately turned off, because the main titles music tempo was off, perhaps only slightly, but enough to really, really bother me. I never warmed to the album. Later, I picked up Rhino, and was very, very pleased with it. I've been debating getting Intrada's release. How much of an improvement is it over the Rhino release?
Thanks in advance. Seriously, the posts here really help me, and I appreciate it!
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Yep, the 1995 Rhino is fatally flawed. Every instance of the main "fandango" theme - Main Title, The Wild Ride, and the lengthy finale on Mt. Rushmore - was apparently on one tape, and that tape had not aged well and came out very badly in the 1995 transfer. This means that every time the music you want to hear most appears on the Rhino, it sounds like it's being played over a 1930s phone line. It's muffled and faint and whole instruments are faded away to nothing. The Rhino was the best they could do in 1995, but it's unlistenable now.
The 1999 DVD had a new transfer of the score used for the "isolated score" feature, with infinitely better sound. I ripped a CD from that and had it for years before the Intrada came out.
The 2012 Intrada CD uses cues sourced from both the 1999 and 1995 transfers, according to the liner notes, and is hands down the best album to get.
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Yep, to clarify, the only argument that could even be made is between the Intrada and the McNeely, as one is the original recordings at the best quality possible and the other is a skilled re-recording. The Rhino was state-of-the-art for 1995, but today the disc is just a worthless coaster.
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The Rhino edition is a keeper for me just because of the excellent liner notes.
I own all of the NBNW recordings released on CD.
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The Rhino edition is a keeper for me just because of the excellent liner notes.
I own all of the NBNW recordings released on CD.
Ah, fair enough, I hadn't thought of that. They were extensive. If you're a big enough fan of the film or the score that would actually be a reason to add the Rhino to your collection. However the Intrada is still the one to get for the music.
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The Rhino soundtrack releases contain - to this day - some of the very best (=informed and informative) liner notes ever written.
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The Rhino soundtrack releases contain - to this day - some of the very best (=informed and informative) liner notes ever written.
While I understand Mr.Jack's point, to me this remains THE notable exception. The notes are indeed fine, a template really.
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The Rhino has too many tracks, and the Intrada condenses the tracks too much. Stuff like "The Ledge" and "The Match Box" have great openings, but nope, more tracks needlessly buried by Intrada. I guess that kind of thing is a sticking point with me.
Answer: you need both.
Not crazy about McNeely's interpretation of the theme on his re-recording (the drums especially sound super weak and not "heavy" enough on the MT).
Salonen's recording of the concert version of the "Overture" is fantastic, because they play it at breakneck speed and with flawless precision. Try listening to this right after the Laurie Johnson re-recording!
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It continues to baffle me that people will keep multiple CDs of almost the exact same thing like that -- or that people suggest that it 'should' even be done. I already have almost 4000, why would I want another 400 duplicates? (Please note; Different recordings do NOT count as 'the exact same thing' despite what some people on this board seem to imply)
In this case, because they came out so far apart, I'm assuming that everyone already has the Rhino and advising that they not get rid of it if they want to replace it with the Intrada.
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