The Fantasy Album (Compilation)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

What is so great about compilations? Well, you get various highlights from very different scores and composers, often presented in one and the same genre. And all together they also present either a small variation or big difference in performance (often good and sometimes weaker). The City of Prague Philharmonic led Space and Beyond to a very worthy presentation and naturally they went into other genres as just space. Horror, Western and now Fantasy, starting with the two biggest blockbusters of the moment, namely Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. They started the whole idea of Silva Screen to present a whole set of fantasy ideas and the presentation is once more in a double CD format, a booklet full of information and under the watchful performances of both The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and also the Crouch End Festival Chorus. Together the mix is always interesting. The compilations by Silva Screen have been noted for changing the performances with often stunning results, on occasions slipping the boat just but overall the impressions where always led to the positive side. Of The Fantasy Album I can say that the orchestra this time had problems in capturing at times the rhythm or the pace of the performances. Naturally they excel at John Barry but Barry at his romantic side isn't exactly rhythm to the bone and so the difference is that often it lacks the total energy. This can hurt several presentations but the quality of other performances (with often different use of instrumentation) also leads to sometimes well chosen intentions. The variations are often so good that several tracks receive a longer performance, different ending or something in that vein. And there lies the strength of The Fantasy Album. Where the energy or epic power is lacking, the performances remain simply enjoyable because of their extra use of material or choral added spectrum.

Disc 1 starts with Harry Potter and receives a well performed version but lacks just the uniqueness I adored so much in the string writing of the theme of the original. Nonetheless the version is wonderful to start with. 'The Fellowship' of LOTR is one of total beauty and the string and flute versions are very faithful to the original, also it ends differently with a version of the hobbit and main theme, giving a little bit of magic that especially tastes very good. The Mummy lacks the pace of the original but excels in the love theme and the sequel has the same problem with the energy of the adventure theme. However the quality of The Mummy Returns is the added end credits where the Medjai Commanders theme receive the choral version so adored at the end of the movie. It does lack the pure epic strength but the sole brilliance of orchestra and choir is enough to enjoy your wits from begin to end. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon presents a lovely suite with the cello and short rhythmic brass display following into a lovely rendition of the love theme. Conan the Barbarian's suite presents the first and second track mostly and their performances (especially choral) don't lie in capturing the brilliance of the piece and the added bonus of hearing a total emphasized choir over the love theme of Dragonheart is perfect for the beauty of Edelman's piece alone. The second part of disc 1 concentrates more on Golden Age classics like Sinbad and 'The Overture' of The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad is quite easy to enjoy in its brassy performance, Mysterious Island shows some growling stuff ala The Swarm did do to present the bees and The Valley of Gwangi has a middle fun march. The ending with The Witches of Eastwick with its devilish theme is great in its orchestral power. The Three Worlds of Gulliver also presents an opening where David Newman got his inspiration from to compose Anastasia. And so for Part 1.

Disc 2 brings a respected suite of Gladiator (even though this one misses either the beauty of Rome or the growling force of the action material). The choral version of the main theme is lovely in its effect but not up to par with the original. Flesh + Blood captures every set of brilliance of the original and the added orchestral bonus with 20 seconds of added improvised material makes Beetlejuice really worth it. Further is Highlander enjoyable and very faithful to the original, is Carmina Burana almost a replica of the original classic masterpiece, is Legend apart from the rather dissonant opening very true and Raiders of the Lost Ark never fails in giving the respected performance. Highlights should have been the enormous suite of Batman but either the selections and on occasions the performances (especially the end fanfare after 12.00) lack the true force of the original, how loud they though sound in orchestral performance. Edward Scissorhands doesn't stay true to the material and improvises the choral theme of the Ice Dance sequence but its overall very sweet. I didn't found the brassy performances of Mad Max to be that special and The Thief of Bagdad is a lovely and excellent orchestral piece with brass and strings and a wonderful Arabic like playful chase market piece which lightens the mood. Together again this album presents 140 minutes and more of music, all performed in their own piece of diversity but in general, they never fail to excite me, even if they miss to hit all the right notes. From a perspective point in simply enjoying music, The Fantasy Album is another winner in the category. However if you truly want your pieces to be totally correct and true, then you might find several pieces quite disliking. However that is not the point of compilations and the often improvised look works very well in a collection of respected performances, capturing the bulk of Fantasy music from classic to recent. Another respected candidate for an afternoon of film music listening.

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Tracks

Double Disc

Disk One: 71.43

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (John Williams) Orchestrations by Adam Saunders

1. Hedwig's Theme (4.51)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Howard Shore) Orchestrations by Nic Raine

2. The Fellowship ** (5.52) Excellent Track

The Mummy (Jerry Goldsmith) Orchestrations by Jerry Goldsmith

3. Sand Volcano / Love Theme (2.55)

The Mummy Returns (Alan Silvestri) Orchestrations by Mark McKenzie & William Ross

4. Main Themes ** (5.24) Excellent Track

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun) Orchestrations by Christopher Tin

5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon / The Eternal Vow (5.07)

Conan the Barbarian (Basil Poledouris) Orchestrations by Greig McRitchie

6. Suite * (10.37) Excellent Track

Dragonheart (Randy Edelman) Orchestrations by Nic Raine

7. Main Themes ** (4.32) Excellent Track

The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (Bernard Herrmann) Orchestrations by Bernard Herrmann

8. Overture (1.59)

Mysterious Island (Bernard Herrmann) Orchestrations by Bernard Herrmann

9. Prelude / The Balloon (4.13)

10. Giant Bees / The Giant Grab (4.54)

Jason and the Argonauts (Bernard Herrmann) Orchestrations by Bernard Herrmann

11. Prelude (1.58)

The Valley of Gwangi (Jerome Moross) Orchestrations by Nic Raine

12. The Forbidden Valley / Pterodactyl Attack / Death Of Gwangi (7.45)

The Three Worlds of Gulliver (Bernard Herrmann) Orchestrations by Bernard Herrmann

13. Overture (2.00)

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (Miklos Rozsa) Orchestrations by Nic Raine

14. Prelude / Sinbad Fights Kali / Finale (4.50)

The Witches of Eastwick (John Williams) Orchestrations by Nic Raine

15. The Dance Of The Witches (4.37) Excellent Track

Disk Two: 73.48

Gladiator (Hans Zimmer) Orchestrations by Nic Raine

1. Suite * (7.14)

Flesh and Blood (Basil Poledouris) Orchestrations by Greig McRitchie

2. End Titles (5.01) Excellent Track

Willow (James Horner) Orchestrations by Mark McGurty

3. Willow's Theme * (3.51)

Beetlejuice (Danny Elfman) Orchestrations by Mark McGurty

4. Main Theme * (2.03) Excellent Track

Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman) Orchestrations by Steve Bartek

5. Main Title / Ice Dance * (5.30)

Batman (Danny Elfman) Orchestrations by Steve Bartek

6. Suite (12.57)

Highlander (Michael Kamen) Orchestrations by Michael Kamen

7. Training Montage (4.45)

Mad Max 1 & 2 (Brian May) Orchestrations by Philip Lane

8. Suite (6.27)

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (Maurice Jarre) Orchestrations by Christopher Palmer

9. Thunderdome Fanfare / I Ain't Captain Walker * (4.58)

Excalibur (Carl Orff) Orchestrations by Carl Orff

10. O Fortuna From Carmina Burana * (2.44) Excellent Track

The Thief of Bagdad (Miklos Rozsa) Orchestrations by Miklos Rozsa

11. Overture / The Market At Basra (5.16)

Legend (Jerry Goldsmith) Orchestrations by Jerry Goldsmith

12. Faerie Dance / Re-united (7.11) Excellent Track

Raiders of the Lost Ark (John Williams) Orchestrations by John Williams

13. The Raiders March (5.30) Excellent Track

* Performed by the Crouch End Festival Chorus

** Performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Choir

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