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Unless I missed something, there have been three recordings of this great score: the original Ava with the added pop version, the Film Music Collection re-recording by the composer in the 70s, and the Varese composer-conducted release in the 90s. I'm going to play all three again. My memory favors the 70s recording. Any thoughts?
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You did miss something: The Ava album was a (very faithful) re-recording itself, unique for the LP soundtrack album and not the same as the film recording, which alas remains unreleased but which brings the total to four recordings for this masterpiece of a score.
The sad thing is that some years back, Roger at Intrada revealed that they were on the verge of premiering the actual film recording on CD in their Universal Classics line... but were stopped at the last moment because somebody's estate (I think it was some producer on the film) had to sign off on the release and they refused! As far as I understand it Intrada did gain access to the original tapes of the film recording before arriving at this tragic dead end, so at least the original film recording is presumably preserved, even if it couldn't be released. Hopefully one day things will change.
Yavar
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Unless I missed something, there have been three recordings of this great score: the original Ava with the added pop version, the Film Music Collection re-recording by the composer in the 70s, and the Varese composer-conducted release in the 90s. I'm going to play all three again. My memory favors the 70s recording. Any thoughts?
As far as I'm concerned, THE FMC recording is about as good as it gets.
It has more music then the original release, it's Elmer conducting his own score with the best players in London in the 70's that is also a great stereo recording as well.
If you are more concerned with the music as opposed to it having to be "The Soundtrack", this is the one for you.
Ford A. Thaxton
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For me, it will always be the AVA - it's most of the same players that played on the soundtrack and the feel of it is just right. I really like the FMC recording, too, but there are moments in it that just don't strike the same emotional chord as the AVA, at least for me. It's nice to have all the music on the FMC, but I will always revert to the AVA. As to the Varese recording, for whatever reason, it's just not so hot.
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Well, I've just played the Ava and the FMC. Both are excellent. The FMC was my first album I owned of this score. Believe it or not, I wanted the soundtrack like mad when I first saw the movie as a kid in the late 60s and could not find it anywhere. Looked for years. Finally, Bernstein recorded his excellent re-recording in the mid to late 70s and I latched onto that. I always thought it was perfect.
The Ava is very close to the film recording. I've seen the film easily every other year since the advent of VCRs so that score in the film in seared inside of me. The Ava re-recording never makes me think it's not the original.
About to play the Varese. I remember being disappointed in it back in the 90s when it was first released.
I never did find that Ava LP. Never heard the album until the first CD issue.
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I agree with both of your assessments of the various recordings (though I might like the FMC a bit better than you do).
Yavar
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Well, I did say the FMC was perfect.
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I didn’t see your post when I wrote mine (check the times and you’ll see mine was posted within a minute of yours); I was referring to Dana and Bruce’s posts.
Yavar
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For me, it will always be the AVA - it's most of the same players that played on the soundtrack and the feel of it is just right. I really like the FMC recording, too, but there are moments in it that just don't strike the same emotional chord as the AVA, at least for me. It's nice to have all the music on the FMC, but I will always revert to the AVA. As to the Varese recording, for whatever reason, it's just not so hot.
I agree with this. I love the FMC recording but the orchestra is just a bit too large so it loses some of the intimacy. But I do play both.
Timely conversation because our next release is a reissue of the Ava Mockingbird paired with Walk on the Wild Side on a single disc. But I wouldn't put that in print and I'll deny it if anyone says I said anything.
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Ava Mockingbird
Who is she?
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Among the three albums, my choice has always been the Ava. Not only have I owned it the longest and listened to it the most often, but it is definitely closest to the film performance. (Since it was recorded so soon after the film tracks with the composer conducting so many of the same musicians, it's less of a surprise though not a guaranteed result.)
I loved TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD -- movie and score -- as a kid in 1962, and then in '72 finally found the Ava LP in stereo. Bernstein's FMC issue a few years later was a cleaner pressing and was a bit longer, but I felt the Ava was more satisfyingly faithful to the film versions. As for the Varese, I don't think I liked or kept any of their '90s re-recordings from Scotland (except for Goldsmith's FRONTIERS).
However, I appreciate the discreet leak of good news here in this thread. Weeks ago I was sorry to see that Intrada's set of the Bernstein Ava albums was going away. With no idea whether they'll all come back as separate-disc pairings, it's good to think that MOCKINGBIRD and WALK ON THE WILD SIDE will be accessible after all for people to discover and buy.
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Posted: |
Sep 17, 2021 - 11:50 PM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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Hello, Dana. Hello, hhw. Seems we've had this conversation a million times over in the past 23 years. Anyway, I'm still with you; the AVA it is.
Yup, Howard, it's déjà vu all over again, but I love this music so much that... well, don't get me started. Suffice it to say that even though I own a copy of Intrada's answer-to-a-prayer "Elmer Bernstein The Ava Collection," I will undoubtedly be buying that label's upcoming Mockingbird/Walk on the Wild Side volume. The Ava rules, indeed.
One of the things I like to do when a list is provided is to see who the instrumentalists are. Certain names seem to crop up over and over again in the high quality scores. In the case of the Ava Mockingbird we see Virginia Majewski on viola (some may remember how Bernard Herrmann was so impressed with her performance on his score for "On Dangerous Ground" that he insisted she have her own screen credit in the titles), Robert Bain on guitar, Carl Fortina on accordian, Felix Slatkin on violin (to name a few), musicians who contributed their skills to so many of our favorite Golden Age and Silver Age scores. I didn't recognize the names of the two pianists credited on Mockingbird (Raymond Turner and Caesar Giovannini), but their light touch on the keys was certainly the backbone of the score's intimacy. I can't even remember how many scores I've seen with Virginia Majewski's name among the listed players, but it is a large number (including both the 1960 Dot stereo and 1966 United Artists re-recordings of The Ten Commandments).
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They are all great. I like this music a lot, it"s such a beautiful score, I enjoy very much to have it in different recordings.
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