Somewhere on here, during the past week or three, a few FSMers mentioned this ballet score in some thread (I can't remember which one) and how excellent and filmic it was. I'm always on the lookout for new/exciting stuff and further investigation led me to believe this might be something I would enjoy. MIGHT BE!!!??? WOULD!!!??? Oh my...It's much better than I could have possibly imagined. It's really quite fantastic. Written in that style when Holdridge did OLD GRINGO/Horner did ZORRO*/Kamen did THREE MUSKETEERS or Bernstein did his GUITAR CONCERTO, it's just full-on melodic, inspired, symphonic brilliance, with its own lovely voice and style. It's available on a 2CD set from Naxos, lushly performed and recorded by the Santiago Phil under the composer. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Here's a taste...
A BIG Thank You to those fellow FSMers who put this in my view, in that other thread (thumbs up emoji)
* the ballet is based on the story/character who inspired the ZORRO legend, so expect castanets and South American flourishes.
Thanks for the recommendation! It does sound wonderful. Actually I even prefer it to Horner's Zorro even though Horner is my second favorite composer - but somehow his Zorro score has never really grabbed me.
Thanks for the recommendation! It does sound wonderful. Actually I even prefer it to Horner's Zorro even though Horner is my second favorite composer - but somehow his Zorro score has never really grabbed me.
He wrote two! (And his second one IMO is better than his first one...)
One of the all time greatest album action tracks!
I appreciate the Dominguez recommendation too, Kev; sounds very promising!
Scott, appreciate the link to Beintus' music for The Little Prince (too tired to spell out the French)! I'm sure I've heard of this before, but forgot all about it - you all are rocking it today!
Nice to see other people enjoying this too (I'm Paying It Forward) It's splendid stuff. It's one of those works that conjures the story in your mind's eye, as the music unfolds and you read the track titles, seeing the images come alive in your imagination. I love how descriptive and filmic it all is. Has this composer done any other stuff of note (or akin to this*)?
*The Naxos booklet only mentions one other work (a Requiem piece) and he seems to be primarily a successful conductor of symphony orchestras.
