New recordings, apparently using the original orchestrations, of what could essentially be called 'mood music' created for silent films. Like most of PRO's releases it has that early 20th century sound that some often call "old timey". Plenty of sound samples to whet the whistle here and the liner notes are available at the New World site.
Arrived today and spinning now. Superbly performed and recorded. Top-notch packaging with a 52-page booklet of informative liner notes. A real treat, and if you aren't a fan of ragtime music (I'm not), don't be turned off by the orchestra's name; the music is mostly rooted in the realm of the Romantic era of classical music. Most highly recommended.
If you haven't seen / hear of it, you should look in the PRO's THE MARK OF ZORRO DVD. Like seemingly all of Douglas Fairbanks' films, the score is a hodgepodge of existing music, but it works beautifully with the images. On top of that, this may be the best restored version of the film I've seen.
The score's not available on CD, but you can always copy it directly from the film if you want to enjoy it away from the film itself.
