Remastered edition. Limited edition of 500 units. 8-page CD booklet with French and English liner notes by Sylvain Pfeffer.
In collaboration with Newen, Music Box Records proudly presents the seventh volume of the collection Great Television Soundtracks dedicated to the original television soundtrack composed by Philippe Sarde: Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1997).
Aired on French television, The Red and the Black was adapted by Danièle Thompson and director Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe from the novel by French writer Stendhal. The story follows an ambitious, but impoverished young man, Julien Sorel (Kim Rossi Stuart), who seduces women of high social standing in order to improve his prospects. The orchestral and choral breadth of the score composed by Philippe Sarde is quite remarkable for a TV production and seeks to echo 19th century Romanticism with inspiration from Bach, Wagner or Rossini, whom Stendhal admired. The theme associated with Louise de Rênal (Carole Bouquet) is played on the flute and accompanied by piano. The ear-catching melody plunges the listener into the throes of the burning passion that consumes Louise and Julien. The main theme, dominated by strings, develops into two movements, one quite calm, built around two chords played in tremolos and varied, the other more tumultuous, in keeping with the personality of the main character, who struggles with controlling his emotions and faces permanent conflict with others and himself. The score was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and the choir Metro Voices at the Abbey Road Studios.
Remastered from the original recording sessions, the program has been supervised by Philippe Sarde and Édouard Dubois. The CD comes with an 8-page booklet with liner notes by Sylvain Pfeffer, discussing the TV film and the score. The release is limited to 500 units.
Sounds like the Sarde I love. I'm sure to add it to a future order from Intrada. Shame about the cover, but it's the music that counts. Cool release MBR.
Sarde himself must have been very fond of the love theme you can hear in this Youtube clip. It is one of the themes - maybe together with those of UN TAXI MAUVE, L´ADOLESCENTE, LE CHOC or PREMIERS DÉSIRS - which he reused most often in always new variations. It first turned up in 1981 in the war drama ALLONS Z´ENFANTS (also released by MBR in 2021), then set for a small chamber ensemble in the score for the Australian movie DEVIL IN THE FLESH in 1985 (available on an Australian 1M1 CD) and finally in 1997 in LE ROUGE ET LE NOIR.
I listened to this album a couple of times already and really enjoyed it. It's indeed suitably classical and romantic. The faithful Hubert Bougis came up with superb orchestrations and the recording sessions took place in London. KeV, no doubt you will like it as well.
Thanks Stefan for pointing out stuff from ALLONS Z'ENFANTS recycled on this occasion, which is also mentioned in the liner notes. This sad tune recurs throughout the whole score under various guises but this album has a lot more to offer. One noticeable track of which I can't tell if Sarde actually wrote it before is the 'Générique début' and its way too short variations 'Bonaparte' / 'Les adieux' / 'Mariage refusé'. It boasts a driving and nervous rhythm typical of Sarde I'm really fond of. Highly recommended.
"The faithful Hubert Bougis came up with superb orchestrations and the recording sessions took place in London. KeV, no doubt you will like it as well" -------------------------- Indeed...and very much. This is a sumptuous hour of Movie Music (actually...TV) from Philippe Sarde. Romantic and emotional. The whole thing oozes class and quality. The LSO no less...impressive for a TV production. It will take a few plays for me to get a proper handle on it and the myriad themes and motifs Sarde delivers for this production. But it will be time well spent discovering new music in the classic, old tradition.
And I will have to do something about that cover (John??? Roy???)
Nice, Sartoris. At least yours looks like a proper movie poster cover. Much better than the Music Box effort, arguably one of the least inspired CD covers I've ever seen.
Sort of....Maybe not number one, but probably in the top 3 here around.
I have 99,5% of his albums ever released on CD, including the ulra rare DEVIL IN THE FLESH and also rather rare K. Probably the most talented french film composer ever, along Michel Legrand.
And I was lucky enough to meet and chat with the great man in Paris October 15th, 2022 at Gibert's shop.
Just kidding! Being such a great fan of Sarde work, could you share what albums do you think are absolutely must have of his? I've become a later fan of his music and there is so much to appreciate!!
I'd be interested in hearing some recommendations too. I can pick up quite a lot of Sarde's work for a reasonable price - things released by Quartet and by Universal France (such as his collaborations with Claude Sautet and Bertrand Tavernier).
I suppose I could start by searching out Kev's previous threads. Kev, did you get that one with the photoshopped-on panties on the cover?
Juanki and Graham, it of course depends on your personal taste but I'd say that most albums released by Universal France, Quartet & MBR are worth purchasing. By the way, it's great to see that Sarde himself is caring about the release of his musical legacy and we can therefore probably hope for more albums in the near future. To name but a few, there are for instance several of his scores for Pierre Granier-Deferre that would be welcome to fill up a whole CD: LE FILS, LA RACE DES SEIGNEURS, LA CAGE and NOYADE INTERDITE.
"I suppose I could start by searching out Kev's previous threads. Kev, did you get that one with the photoshopped-on panties on the cover?" ---------------------- I did indeed, Mr Graham. It's a very pleasant listen, but quite lightweight and a tad repetitive. He mainly hammers the Main Theme for each film over and over. There's hardly any drama or suspense (suspenders!!!) or action. It's just endless lovely (sometimes bittersweet) LURVE music. Perfect if you're in the mood for such frivolity.
Sort of....Maybe not number one, but probably in the top 3 here around.
I have 99,5% of his albums ever released on CD, including the ulra rare DEVIL IN THE FLESH and also rather rare K. Probably the most talented french film composer ever, along Michel Legrand.
And I was lucky enough to meet and chat with the great man in Paris October 15th, 2022 at Gibert's shop.
