I too would very much appreciate any opinions on the sound quality of the new cd.
The sound quality of the new Hallmark CD is on a par with the Colpix LP, minus vinyl clicks and pops. Mono, of course, but I think that suits this score -- someone mentioned earlier the wall-of-sound approach. I think stereo separation of the elements would dilute the impact, especially in the loud passages. I don't have any information about the French issue. I'm quite happy with the Hallmark disc. The old LP was a bit of an obstacle course for the typical hi-fi systems of the Sixties. For instance, I remember the horn in the tomb track used to cause weird resonances in my speakers back then. This new CD cleans all that up.
I also got the Hallmark CD recently, chiefly because I wanted that Morricone cue that had been deleted from other releases. Well, it's here, and the album seems to me to sound about the same as the previous lp release on Colpix, which I got when the film first came out. I always bought mono back then, because stereo lp's were usually a dollar more, and I didn't have a stereo player. (And doesn't that detail take us back in time?)
I'm glad I got this release. Love the cover art. Love the score with its haunting main theme, which, as I recall, seems to be derived from a Medieval chant. (If you listen carefully, you can hear a few notes of it from a chorus, during the sequence in the 1939 HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, when Esmeralda is about to be hanged.)
BARABBAS is a haunting score, with evocative moments. I still especially remember the music accompanying the actual eclipse they filmed during the Crucifixion sequence.
This release also includes that "Explanation of musical sounds" at the end, which I used to like, but now pass over, although it always seemed like filler, just make the original album longer. There really isn't a lot of music in the actual film, so that this recording is really most all there is.
Still, for BARABBAS completists, like myself, I recommend this CD.
I always loved the score to "Barabbas" and still own the LP with the laminated foldout jacket that offered b&w stills inside and interesting reproductions of color paintings on the back. What I really look forward to someday is a blu-ray release of the film, which is a personal favorite. If I'm not mistaken, Twilight Time would be ones most likely to make it so. They've got three Halloween releases slated for October. What a wonderful Christmas 2014 release "Barabbas" would make. How about it, TT? It's about time for a Nascimbene, isn't it?
I too would very much appreciate any opinions on the sound quality of the new cd.
The sound quality of the new Hallmark CD is on a par with the Colpix LP, minus vinyl clicks and pops. Mono, of course, but I think that suits this score -- someone mentioned earlier the wall-of-sound approach. I think stereo separation of the elements would dilute the impact, especially in the loud passages. I don't have any information about the French issue. I'm quite happy with the Hallmark disc. The old LP was a bit of an obstacle course for the typical hi-fi systems of the Sixties. For instance, I remember the horn in the tomb track used to cause weird resonances in my speakers back then. This new CD cleans all that up.
Following your recommendation, it looks like I may have to get a copy of this after all! Perhaps this is one of Hallmark's (rare) better efforts...
I was pleasantly surprised to find it so. It's great finally to have everything I remember hearing on that original LP, (even the demonstration track). And yes, that LP packaging was exceptional, happily still in my possession.
its haunting main theme, which, as I recall, seems to be derived from a Medieval chant.
It's a Gregorian Kyrie. I discovered this some months after seeing the movie, when I heard my much younger brother singing it at home. He hadn't seen the movie. It turned out that he was simply practicing for the church choir!
I saw the movie in first run and thought it sober, serious, interesting, different. I must have liked the music, for I soon bought the album. On listening, it struck me as utter claptrap. I never played it again. Well, it's been more than fifty years, and you guys have convinced me that it's time for another spin.
