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I've got the following Herrmann re-recordings:
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (RSNO/cond. John Debney)
Citizen Kane (RSNO/ cond. Joel McNeely)
Psycho (RSNO/cond. Joel McNeely)
All are highly recommended.
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Posted: |
Jan 18, 2007 - 10:36 PM
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By: |
EdG
(Member)
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Pretty much everything you mentioned is a winner, especially the Morgan/Stromberg stuff. The Egyptian is a real epic gem. We're still waiting for a re-do a King of the Khyber Rifles but there's a great performance of the "Attack" cue on Gerhardt's "Best of Classic Film Scores" compilation on RCA/BMG still floating around.
Jane Eyre on Marco Polo (Naxos?) is a fantastic recording. The Magnificent Ambersons is the only way to hear much of Herrmann's score for that film, but the miking is a little distant for my taste. Tony Bremner is not one of my favorite interpreters of film music, but he acquits himself well here.
I recommend Varese's Citizen Kane over Preamble's, now reissued at budget price on Laserlight.
Likewise, Varese's Psycho improves on Herrmann's on Unicorn (now out of print). I also recommend their recording of Vertigo.
Varese's Marnie is generally solid, but there's an odd mistake in the opening of the Prelude that escaped the producers. In a similar vein, Varese's re-recording of the Twilight Zone scores is mostly good, but flubs "The Stars", the highlight of his "The Lonely" score. Go figure.
Esa-Pekka Salonen did a wonderful album of suites and themes with the LA Philharmonic. It's always nice to have a world-class conductor tackle Herrmann.
Also, I should point out that if your wallet can stand the shock, the Bernstein Film Music Collection box has two absolutely top-notch Herrmann re-recordings: The Ghost And Mrs. Muir and Torn Curtain.
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Well, it isn't a rerecording, but if you can find the "complete" recording of his GREATEST score - Obsession - you should definitely pick it up.
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Posted: |
Jan 19, 2007 - 12:24 AM
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By: |
dogplant
(Member)
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I am probably preaching to the choir here, but personally I was fascinated to pair up the following original Herrmann scores with re-recordings of his later classics:
Original On Dangerous Ground (FSM) and re-recording North By Northwest (Varèse)
Original Beneath the 80-Mile Reef (FSM) and re-recording Jason And the Argonauts (Intrada)
Very interesting to hear some common themes and how they evolved and reappeared in his later work. And all great scores!
To try to answer your question, Tom, the Laurie Johnson conducted North By Northwest above was the one that got me hooked on Herrmann back in the early 1980s, on vinyl. The acoustics are stunning, recorded in a church hall in London, I forget where, but it was one of the first digital recordings and they got great dimensionality in the placement of the microphones. I also really treasure Benny's National Philharmonic rerecording of Psycho that I picked up on vinyl shortly thereafter. Joel McNeely's Vertigo (Varèse) is pretty stellar, too; and for a potpourri of greatest hits, you can't go wrong with Benny's 1973 Decca/London release The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann (I remember reading this was a big influence on Chris Young), or the 1996 Esa Pekka Salonen compilation Bernard Herrmann: The Film Scores (Sony Classical) is a good one, too.
One I would love is Joel McNeely's 1995 Seattle Symphony recording of Fahrenheit 451 which is OOP and getting pretty pricey now. This comes bundled with Anna and the King of Siam and a few others, but I believe it's the most complete recording of this haunting score -- that is, until John Morgan & co. come to the rescue! http://tinyurl.com/y6eza7
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To try to answer your question, Tom, the Laurie Johnson conducted North By Northwest above was the one that got me hooked on Herrmann back in the early 1980s, on vinyl. The acoustics are stunning, recorded in a church hall in London, I forget where, but it was one of the first digital recordings and they got great dimensionality in the placement of the microphones. I also really treasure Benny's National Philharmonic rerecording of Psycho that I picked up on vinyl shortly thereafter. Joel McNeely's Vertigo (Varèse) is pretty stellar, too; and for a potpourri of greatest hits, you can't go wrong with Benny's 1973 Decca/London release The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann (I remember reading this was a big influence on Chris Young), or the 1996 Esa Pekka Salonen compilation Bernard Herrmann: The Film Scores (Sony Classical) is a good one, too.
Actually, the LP used the single-miked master, had little or no high end, and was poorly balanced between the softest and loudest passages.
The same master was used for the Unicorn-Kanchana CD release of the Johnson-conducted re-recording, whereas the Varèse CD, which employed a multi-mic master made simultaneously to the single-mic, sounds splendid (the Unicorn disc does have about a minute's more music than the Varèse, however).
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Vertigo (McNeely, Varese Sarabande)
Great Movie Thrillers (Herrmann, London/Decca)
Jane Eyre (Adriano, Marco Polo)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Bernstein, Varese Sarabande - or in the FSM box)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (McNeely, Varese Sarabande)
The Trouble With Harry (McNeely, Varese Sarabande)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Debney, Varese Sarabande)
Vertigo (McNeely, Varese Sarabande)
Psycho (Elfman/Bartek, Virgin)
Jason and the Argonauts (Broughton, Intrada)
Fahrenheit 451 (McNeely, Varese Sarabande)
The Classic Film Scores of Bernard Herrmann (Gerhardt, RCA)
...and many more.
There are also a ton of great OST recordings available, but I'm glad you didn't ask - there are far too many to list. 
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Posted: |
Jan 19, 2007 - 12:34 PM
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By: |
TownerFan
(Member)
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I am completely immersed in reading the Herrmann bio "A Heart at Fire's Center" and just captivated on each page. Even as a 30-something fan of the Goldsmith/Williams/Horner/Elfman variety, there has always been some Herrmann scores I loved, but now it just seems the more I hear, the more I like from him.
You know, the very same thing happened to me recently, since I too have just finished reading Steven C. Smith's wonderful biography of Herrmann. And I too listened to a lot of Herrmann during the reading period.
Now I'm immersed in Christopher Palmer's "The Composer in Hollywood", which is an absolutely delighting reading. I recommend to read it while listening to Charles Gerhardt's glorious re-recordings of Steiner, Korngold, Newman, Ròzsa, Tiomkin, Waxman and Herrmann. They're a fine companion to this book!
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Posted: |
Jan 19, 2007 - 1:37 PM
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By: |
Tom Servo
(Member)
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You know, the very same thing happened to me recently, since I too have just finished reading Steven C. Smith's wonderful biography of Herrmann. And I too listened to a lot of Herrmann during the reading period.
Now I'm immersed in Christopher Palmer's "The Composer in Hollywood", which is an absolutely delighting reading. I recommend to read it while listening to Charles Gerhardt's glorious re-recordings of Steiner, Korngold, Newman, Ròzsa, Tiomkin, Waxman and Herrmann. They're a fine companion to this book!
Good to know, I will certainly put that on my must-read list! There is also another book by Steven Smith called "Film Composers", published in 1991 - has anyone leafed through this yet?
I did indeed find the Gerhardt recording w/ CITIZEN KANE at Amazon and ordered immediately. And as a sci-fi/fantasy fan, I of course sought out Herrmann's work in this arena, so Intrada's brilliant JASON & THE ARGONAUTS is an oft-played album, as is MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and Varese's 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. I will have to pick up their recording of THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER, in addition to the highly recommended VERTIGO.
I was searching for re-recordings mainly for the improvement in sonics & recording techniques, as archival recordings are not always the best representation for listening. And yet we all know how sometimes these versions cannot always match the intensity or pace of the originals, so it's a toss up. I have read much about OBSESSION, but in my searches it seems to be VERY rare and unavailable.
I still wish Bruce Broughton would lead the charge on a few more Herrmann albums.
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