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Orchestre Symphonique & Ch?ur de Moscou, dir. William Stromberg
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As far as I know, unlike other issues in the current spate of Naxos film score releases, this one of Dimitri Tiomkin's score for 'Red River' had not previously been issued on the Marco Polo label, or if it was I missed it. This recording was made in 2002 by what has become the staple team for these releases: score restoration by John Morgan, with William Stromberg conducting those honorary Hollywood musicians, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this time joined by a full choir (not to speak of a banjo and accordion, and an enlarged string section).
Dimitri Tiomkin, for American moviegoers of my generation, was a Big Name. Just look at a few of the movies for which he composed the score: Dial M for Murder, Rio Bravo (some of whose music was recycled for 'Red River'), Lost Horizon, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Giant, Duel in the Sun, The Big Sky, Friendly Persuasion, Hatari, The Alamo--and the list goes on. Notice how many Westerns there are in the list? Tiomkin may be considered to have more or less invented what we think of as the prototypical Hollywood Western filmscore 'sound.' And nowhere better than in this release. But did you know that Tiomkin, born in Ukraine, soloed as a pianist with the Berlin Philharmonic or that he played the European première of Gershwin's 'Concerto in F'? The concert world lost a pianist, but filmdom gained a great composer of apt and memorable scores.
This CD contains 37 cues from the movie, from the 'Main Title' to 'The New Brand.' Most of the cues are less than three minutes long, but there is a sound throughout that carries forward the movie's atmosphere with use of leitmotiv and similar orchestration. Recurrences of western tunes, some sung by the choir, tie the whole together as well. There is no question that music helps to romanticize the Old West, just as the movie did, and much of it may strike modern listeners as a bit old-fashioned. But one cannot argue but that the score completely underlines Howard Hawks's vision for this John Wayne movie about the first cattle drive north along the Chisholm Trail (and right past my boyhood home; another reason I loved the film).
The music has not been widely available before. It took a good deal of restoration by film score expert John Morgan. I, for one, am grateful to relive the music and recall the film; I saw it when I was eleven years old and happily can go back to that wondrous time via this recording.
Recommended for anyone remotely interested in American film scores.
Scott Morrison
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By NormaE
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's a great pleasure to have a recent digital recording of "Red River" available at such a competitive price! Dimitri Tiomkin was an acknowledged master of scoring for westerns and western-themed films, and his scores for the likes of "Rio Bravo", "The Alamo", "Giant", and of course "High Noon" testify to that fact. It's fair to argue that his score for "Red River" is as good as any score ever written for a film in this genre, and here, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra delivers a polished and spirited rendition that will reward repeated listening.
If I can find a fault (and for me, it's this which loses that possible fifth star), then it's with the poor diction of the chorus for the theme "Settle Down", which appears at several points throughout the score. This makes it nigh impossible to pick out the words, although strangely, it doesn't just apply to this particular recording, as I've experienced similar difficulties with a couple of other renditions (if anyone chancing to read this can point to a source where the lyrics can be found, PLEASE do so!).
Nevertheless, overall this is a fine recording, which should constitute a welcome addition to the collection of any film score devotee.
If I can find a fault (and for me, it's this which loses that possible fifth star), then it's with the poor diction of the chorus for the theme "Settle Down", which appears at several points throughout the score. This makes it nigh impossible to pick out the words, although strangely, it doesn't just apply to this particular recording, as I've experienced similar difficulties with a couple of other renditions (if anyone chancing to read this can point to a source where the lyrics can be found, PLEASE do so!).
Nevertheless, overall this is a fine recording, which should constitute a welcome addition to the collection of any film score devotee.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars
12 reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tiomkin's Music is Marvelously Evocative of the Old West
9 Mar 2005
By J Scott Morrison
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
As far as I know, unlike other issues in the current spate of Naxos film score releases, this one of Dimitri Tiomkin's score for 'Red River' had not previously been issued on the Marco Polo label, or if it was I missed it. This recording was made in 2002 by what has become the staple team for these releases: score restoration by John Morgan, with William Stromberg conducting those honorary Hollywood musicians, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this time joined by a full choir (not to speak of a banjo and accordion, and an enlarged string section).
Dimitri Tiomkin, for American moviegoers of my generation, was a Big Name. Just look at a few of the movies for which he composed the score: Dial M for Murder, Rio Bravo (some of whose music was recycled for 'Red River'), Lost Horizon, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Giant, Duel in the Sun, The Big Sky, Friendly Persuasion, Hatari, The Alamo--and the list goes on. Notice how many Westerns there are in the list? Tiomkin may be considered to have more or less invented what we think of as the prototypical Hollywood Western filmscore 'sound.' And nowhere better than in this release. But did you know that Tiomkin, born in Ukraine, soloed as a pianist with the Berlin Philharmonic or that he played the European première of Gershwin's 'Concerto in F'? The concert world lost a pianist, but filmdom gained a great composer of apt and memorable scores.
This CD contains 37 cues from the movie, from the 'Main Title' to 'The New Brand.' Most of the cues are less than three minutes long, but there is a sound throughout that carries forward the movie's atmosphere with use of leitmotiv and similar orchestration. Recurrences of western tunes, some sung by the choir, tie the whole together as well. There is no question that music helps to romanticize the Old West, just as the movie did, and much of it may strike modern listeners as a bit old-fashioned. But one cannot argue but that the score completely underlines Howard Hawks's vision for this John Wayne movie about the first cattle drive north along the Chisholm Trail (and right past my boyhood home; another reason I loved the film).
The music has not been widely available before. It took a good deal of restoration by film score expert John Morgan. I, for one, am grateful to relive the music and recall the film; I saw it when I was eleven years old and happily can go back to that wondrous time via this recording.
Recommended for anyone remotely interested in American film scores.
Scott Morrison
Dimitri Tiomkin, for American moviegoers of my generation, was a Big Name. Just look at a few of the movies for which he composed the score: Dial M for Murder, Rio Bravo (some of whose music was recycled for 'Red River'), Lost Horizon, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Giant, Duel in the Sun, The Big Sky, Friendly Persuasion, Hatari, The Alamo--and the list goes on. Notice how many Westerns there are in the list? Tiomkin may be considered to have more or less invented what we think of as the prototypical Hollywood Western filmscore 'sound.' And nowhere better than in this release. But did you know that Tiomkin, born in Ukraine, soloed as a pianist with the Berlin Philharmonic or that he played the European première of Gershwin's 'Concerto in F'? The concert world lost a pianist, but filmdom gained a great composer of apt and memorable scores.
This CD contains 37 cues from the movie, from the 'Main Title' to 'The New Brand.' Most of the cues are less than three minutes long, but there is a sound throughout that carries forward the movie's atmosphere with use of leitmotiv and similar orchestration. Recurrences of western tunes, some sung by the choir, tie the whole together as well. There is no question that music helps to romanticize the Old West, just as the movie did, and much of it may strike modern listeners as a bit old-fashioned. But one cannot argue but that the score completely underlines Howard Hawks's vision for this John Wayne movie about the first cattle drive north along the Chisholm Trail (and right past my boyhood home; another reason I loved the film).
The music has not been widely available before. It took a good deal of restoration by film score expert John Morgan. I, for one, am grateful to relive the music and recall the film; I saw it when I was eleven years old and happily can go back to that wondrous time via this recording.
Recommended for anyone remotely interested in American film scores.
Scott Morrison
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Complete Classic Score for a Classic Film--Dynamite!
4 Dec 2005
By William F. Flanigan Jr.
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another musical masterpiece from the premiere team for classic film score restoration and presentation, Messrs. John Morgan and William Stromberg! Like all their meticulous and most-welcomed endeavors, the CD is the first complete modern recording of the score for a film classic. This time out it's the 1948 film RED RIVER (RR). The CD is a re-release at "popular prices" of the original which is on the Marco Polo label (Naxos and Marco Polo are sister labels). To be up front about things, RR is not a film favorite nor is the film music of the composer, Dimitri Tiomkin, my cup of tea. However, if you are a film music enthusiast, anything and everything created by Morgan and Stromberg commands (if not demands) your serious attention. This CD is no exception. Every cue that Tiomkin composed for RR is reproduced in the recording. There are 37 tracks! None is over five minute long, but inter-track transitions are seamless creating a de facto RR concert. And quite a concert it is. The balance between individual instruments and orchestra sections is very good--no instrument is trampled in the musical dust. However, the choir becomes overbearing now and then. Other than that, the conducting is first rate. Dynamic and exciting. Orchestra performance strongly suggests that a fair amount of pre-recording rehearsal effort transpired. The CD booklet is interesting, but not particularly. Jack Smith wrote the film-focused text which he periodically punctuated with quotations from a few of the film's principals and some of the film's critics. Clever, but no cigar. No track-by-track analysis and no photographs either. More fitting for, say, a DVD than a CD. Fortunately, the booklet also contains John Morgan's "Red River Music Notes," a much more worthwhile read. The composer's score was tightly coupled to (and often buried by) what was happening on screen. Mr. Morgan's description of how the score was rendered capable of becoming a stand-alone musical entry is fascinating.
William Flanigan, Ph.D.
William Flanigan, Ph.D.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too much of a good thing become tedious
18 April 2005
By R. Gale
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I concur with the previous reviewer who said that less of this would have been more -- there simply is not enough thematic material to sustain 64 minutes of music. If you already own "The Western World of Dimitri Tiomkin" (a great CD now out of print), you don't need this disk, as that one contains all the key themes and is sonically superior. If not, you may find this worth having. I suggest you burn some of the key tracks to your own CD and listen to that instead, as this CD is not really designed for listening pleasure. The program notes have some good information about Tiomkin's approach to scoring, but they're sparse on specific track information, particularly in that a few tracks seem to have been deleted from the final film. NAXOS deserves some kudos for keeping the Film Music Classics series alive. However, I hope in the future, they'll make CDs for listening first and for reference purposes second.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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