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| CD Review: As Time Goes By |
| Posted By: Nick Haysom on September 6, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Review: As Time Goes By
by Nick Haysom
As Time Goes By ****
VARIOUS
EMI Classics 7243 5 57789 2 5
16 tracks - 69:44
"It's a real challenge to take film music that is usually played by
full orchestras and project it effectively on 12 cellos." So says Georg
Faust, principal of the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra. It's a challenge met magnificently on this album.
The 12 -- all men -- have a reputation for impeccable technique and
adventurous repertoire. Around 60 works have been written specifically
for them, including, last year, a concerto by Tan Dun. We are lucky
indeed that they have turned their attention in our direction.
The selection on this album is eclectic, and the arrangements striking.
Several tracks feature a "guest" or two to spice up the sound, not that
these cellists are ever in danger of sounding dull. Double bass and
harp expand the string tone while trumpet and clarinet add color.
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" kicks things off with an eerie
ebullience. Next, the sinister, unsettling quality of Basic Instinct is beautifully
caught by a chilly solo cello set against rising and falling chords and
scurrying pizzicato work.
Deep feeling and beauty of tone are exhibited in La Strada and the ravishing
"Poverty/Deborah's Theme" from Once
Upon a Time in America. There's also exquisite delicacy in the
arrangement of Titanic, which
conjures up the ghostly image of the great ship disappearing into the
mist, complete with double bass impersonating a foghorn! "The Man with
the Harmonica" from Once Upon a Time
in the West has seen many covers but few as original: wailing
strings, in an uncanny imitation of a mouth organ, give way to
ferocious statements of the theme from the massed cellos.
One could easily balk at the inclusion of "Tea for Two" (from No, No Nanette), "Lullaby of
Birdland" (The Fabulous Baker Boys),
"Love Me Tender," and the title track, but they certainly provide
piquant contrast -- and one can hardly cavil when the playing is this
fine. Indeed, Herman Hupfield's warhorse ascends to such full-bloodied
heights of passion that one expects Pavarotti to enter at any moment. A
hush descends with the Presley number, in fact a kind of hush one might
mistake for an interlude from a Massenet opera!
We're on firmer ground with three examples of John Williams. "Family
Portrait" from Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone is lyrically interpreted by solo clarinet
and quiet strings. The moving melody from Schindler's List, so familiar in
its violin original, receives a luminous performance that only further
cements its place in the classical repertoire. Most imaginatively, all
the wind and percussion parts in Catch
Me If You Can are given to strings, with a little help from the
players snapping their fingers.
I said "eclectic" and how could one resist a collection that features,
in succession, "The Bare Necessities" from The Jungle Book, "Love Me Tender"
and "Love Scene (Vertigo)"?
The surprise guest on the first is the singer Max Raabe, coming on like
a '30s crooner, supported by virtuoso illustrative flourishes from the
12. Vertigo is properly left
to close the album. At over six minutes in length, it is given plenty
of room to breathe without losing the tension: a meditative opening
gradually intensifies to a hedonistic swirl of vibrato, the 12 making
the most of Herrmann's spine-tingling liebestod.
This is an album to which one may return time and again with great
pleasure, and always hear something new. More, it is a great refutation
to all those who question film music's credentials: here it stands tall
and proud alongside the big boys of the classical repertoire. With
compilations it's a jungle out there but, for once, your trek will be
rewarded with more than simply the bare necessities.
(Available as an import through cdnow.com and probably any of the
usual sites -- search for "As Time Goes By EMI")
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
April 23 |
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| Alain Jomy born (1941) |
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| Andre Previn begins recording his score for The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) |
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| Arthur B. Rubinstein died (2018) |
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| Bernard Herrmann begins recording his North by Northwest score (1959) |
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| Christopher Komeda died (1969) |
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| Harold Arlen died (1986) |
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| Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson born (1958) |
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| James Horner begins recording his score for House of Cards (1992) |
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| Jay Gruska born (1952) |
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| Jonsi born (1975) |
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| Kenji Kawai born (1957) |
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| Louis Barron born (1920) |
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| Patrick Williams born (1939) |
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| Robert Farnon died (2005) |
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| Satyajit Ray died (1992) |
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| Sergei Prokofiev born (1891) |
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