Theodore Kuchar and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine deliver colorful, exciting, vibrant performances of Shostakovich's ballet suites, orchestral suites, overtures, and suites from two film scores (Hamlet and The Gadfly). With three CDs at the Brilliant Classics price, this makes the perfect introduction to Shostakovich, the composer of light(er) music. Great stuff. Musical Examples courtesy of Brilliant Classics
Film Scores: The Adventures of Robin Hood (Korngold)
One of the most iconic, opulent, and simply perfect of all film scores, Korngold's complete music for The Adventures of Robin Hood (or just plain Robin Hood for short) contains over 80 minutes of glorious music. Splendidly continuous, you can listen to it like a giant Strauss tone poem, or skip around and enjoy your favorite bits. Either way, this is a must-have masterpiece. Musical Examples courtesy of Naxos Records
Film Scores: Beauty and the Beast (La belle et la bête) Georges Auric
One of the true masterpieces of immediate post-War French cinema (1946), Georges Auric's score for Jean Cocteau's rather silly fairytale Beauty and the Beast is both very French and very, very gorgeous. Over an hour's worth of music, lovingly conducted by Adriano, this Marco Polo (Naxos) production should find an honored place in any serious collection of 20th-century French music, whether for the cinema or not. Musical Examples courtesy of Naxos Records
Review: The Complete John Williams Boston Pops Edition, If Anyone Cares
Hurwitz: "John Williams led the Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993. He got the job due to his richly deserved fame as a film music composer, not because he had any special charisma as a conductor, a fact which is all too evident on these decently played but less than stirring 21 Decca CDs."
Yes, Williams has little charisma as a conductor. I've always wondered why some people worship him as such.
Review: The Complete John Williams Boston Pops Edition, If Anyone Cares
Hurwitz: "John Williams led the Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993. He got the job due to his richly deserved fame as a film music composer, not because he had any special charisma as a conductor, a fact which is all too evident on these decently played but less than stirring 21 Decca CDs."
Yes, Williams has little charisma as a conductor. I've always wondered why some people worship him as such.
Oh, I guess I made a bad decision ordering this...
Review: The Complete John Williams Boston Pops Edition, If Anyone Cares
Hurwitz: "John Williams led the Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993. He got the job due to his richly deserved fame as a film music composer, not because he had any special charisma as a conductor, a fact which is all too evident on these decently played but less than stirring 21 Decca CDs."
Yes, Williams has little charisma as a conductor. I've always wondered why some people worship him as such.
Yeah, we've been discussing the "review", if you can even call it that, in this thread.
Robert Bubeck: "All the while on each occasion, JW conducted a bit like a barn door in a windstorm. Go figure. Great fun, though."
margaretsville: "I think I'll pass on this box. If I want to hear easy listening-classical, I'd rather put on a disc by the master of the genre, Andre Kostelanetz."
Erik Woods: "Did you even listen to these recordings? You seem rather surprised by everything you are reading on the back of these albums."
No response by Hurwitz.
Max Hirsch: "Hi David, saw in the comments that you're a Trekkie. How about reviewing the music of Star Trek TOS as part of your soundtrack series? The composing for the original series was quite savvy, informed, and spot-on- really quite good and essential to the sense of mystery and enchantment of the original series IMO. A 15-cd box of the music was released some years back, obviously only for the most passionate Star Trek fans. Great stuff, though, and perhaps worth reviewing (as incidental music?) even in terms of single cd releases as well."
Response by Hurwitz: "I have a couple of the CD releases, but at present there's no way to get permission to use clips, so I'm stuck unless I do them as Insider only videos, and I don't want to do that (yet)."
geniusrepairman1: "So, as Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy might say: "Mostly harmless.""
Jim P: "Composer/conductors remind me of those housing contractors who are fantastic at laying foundations, installing the plumbing, wiring etc, and are smart enough to go off to their next job allowing someone else to come in and perform the eye-catching aesthetics."
Warren J: "I've always felt ashamed that I enjoy John Williams' compositions. But no longer. Thanks to Hurwitz I can now hold my head high."
MarauderOSU: "Dave, I did preorder this one when it became available, but I canceled it later on because I wasn't 100% certain that I wanted it. And now, I'm glad I did!"
I actually agree that Williams is not a great conductor of other people’s work. Sometimes he’s decent and sometimes he’s just not very good at all.
That said, nobody conducts his own music better than he does. Nobody — even Gerhardt, IMO (who is probably the next best). Something is always missing. I feel the same way about anyone besides Korngold conducting Korngold.
Ironically, Herrmann — who had a decent conducting career outside of his own work — has actually been conducted incredibly well by multiple people (especially Bill Stromberg but also names as big as Esa-Pekka Salonen), arguably better than the originals.
I actually agree that Williams is not a great conductor of other people’s work. Sometimes he’s decent and sometimes he’s just not very good at all.
Well, I guess any Goldsmith fan is going to hate Williams' conducting style because of his interpretation of the main theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
That said, nobody conducts his own music better than he does. Nobody — even Gerhardt, IMO (who is probably the next best). Something is always missing, IMO.
I can't agree with you there. Yes, Williams is mostly great at conducting his own material (minus Jurassic Park, which he take WAY TOO fast) but others have interpreted his work brilliantly and at times better than Williams ever did... that includes Gerhardt, Kunzel, Kojian, McNeely, Talgorn, etc.
I guess in terms of reperformance (post original film recording) I agree that Williams doesn’t always win out vs. those other great names. If you tell me specific cues by others that you think improve on the original film versions, I’d be interested to compare.
I guess in terms of reperformance (post original film recording) I agree that Williams doesn’t always win out vs. those other great names. If you tell me specific cues by others that you think improve on the original film versions, I’d be interested to compare.
Sure...
- I think Talgorn's "The Flag Parade" is exceptional.
- Kunzel's "Escape From Venice" obliterates the OST in performance and recording... but it's not too difficult to improve on a Dan Wallin recording. I'd say the Jurassic Park concert medley off The Great Fantasy Adventure Album is the best interpretation of that piece as well. Kunzel really understood Williams. I also think his "Bicycle Chase / The Departure" from E.T. is the best new recording of E.T. we've ever got. It doesn't improve on the original recording, which is literally flawless, but I don't think even Williams has conducted E.T. as good as Kunzel did. There is so much energy in the "Bicycle Chase" portion. Oooooh... even Kunzel's Space Camp is better than the OST, IMO.
- Kojian's "The Asteroid Field" is bloody brilliant... damn good recording, too
- McNeely conducted the shit out of the main title from The Towering Inferno. That entire three cue suite is superb.
- Gerhardt's "Princess Leia's Theme" is the most passionate I've ever heard and the entire Close Encounters suite, to this day, still remains my favourite recording of that score. Oh, and don't you just love the combo of "Into The Trap / Fight in the Dungeon" from the Return of the Jedi recording? There's a real sense of urgency in that performance. Great stuff! And that new ending... the brass... DAAAAAAAMN!
Erik Woods: "Did you even listen to these recordings? You seem rather surprised by everything you are reading on the back of these albums."
No response by Hurwitz.
Which is quite telling actually.
-Erik-
What could he have responded to you? "Yes, I did."?
I mean, it's obvious he knew most of the stuff that's in the set from previous releases.
Also, I think, one should put his review a bit more in perspective. It's a 24 minute review which is quite long compared to others he did.
If you are into classical music: Do you really need to buy this JW box set? Is it essential from that perspective? Do you want to spend the money on this one, or, are you looking for the best and most interesting repertoire recordings available?
If you go along those lines, I have a feeling, JW looses here.
According to Hurwitz, it's a decent set overall which is not bad. But for those on the fence, they might jump on the other side easily now.
What could he have responded to you? "Yes, I did."
He could have. He was answering almost everyone else's questions and comments.
I mean, it's obvious he knew most of the stuff that's in the set from previous releases.
Was it obvious? Or was it obvious that he was familiar with the pieces not so much that exact performance?
Also, I think, one should put his review a bit more in perspective.
If you are into classical music: Do you really need to buy this JW box set? Is it essential from that perspective? Do you want to spend the money on this one, or, are you looking for the best and most interesting repertoire recordings available?
I don't know really because he didn't *review* any of the music. He didn't go into any REAL detail about the performances, the sound quality, etc. He read a bunch of tracklistings, slagged off Williams conducting and film music in general, and called it a day.
According to Hurwitz, it's a decent set overall which is not bad. But for those on the fence, they might jump on the other side easily now.
That might be his opinion but that's like me saying I hate Mica Levi's music. Ok, well... wouldn't you like to know why I dislike her music with some specifics? Hurwitz didn't offer ANY specifics. It's a daft review... it's not even a review. It's a guy holding a box of CDs reading track titles for 20 minutes.
What could he have responded to you? "Yes, I did."
He could have. He was answering almost everyone else's questions and comments.
I mean, it's obvious he knew most of the stuff that's in the set from previous releases.
Was it obvious? Or was it obvious that he was familiar with the pieces not so much that exact performance?
Also, I think, one should put his review a bit more in perspective.
If you are into classical music: Do you really need to buy this JW box set? Is it essential from that perspective? Do you want to spend the money on this one, or, are you looking for the best and most interesting repertoire recordings available?
I don't know really because he didn't *review* any of the music. He didn't go into any REAL detail about the performances, the sound quality, etc. He read a bunch of tracklistings, slagged off Williams conducting and film music in general, and called it a day.
According to Hurwitz, it's a decent set overall which is not bad. But for those on the fence, they might jump on the other side easily now.
That might be his opinion but that's like me saying I hate Mica Levi's music. Ok, well... wouldn't you like to know why I dislike her music with some specifics? Hurwitz didn't offer ANY specifics. It's a daft review... it's not even a review. It's a guy holding a box of CDs reading track titles for 20 minutes.
-Erik-
I agree he could have taken the time to give an answer there. But it's not true that he responds to the majority of the comments as far as I know.
Well, he certainly knew JW's The Planets and that part of his review is more detailed. Didn't you agree in way on this one? Calling it somehow a "JW on a bad day recording"? -- On the other hand, JW's Christmas album, that one he didn't care to listen to it at all, I think. I don't blame him for that.
I am generally more open about what a review is allowed to be. For me, this one is a review. For you it's not. Agreed, it's not deep, not detailed, rather superficial and adjusted to the overall opinion Hurwitz has regarding that particular release. Even if he was more enthusiastic about it, I don't think you would get more out of it (just compare the one he did for the Herrmann set).
One more thing, I admit, I had a few really loud laughs watching that vid.
) 
