The Oscar Album (Compilation)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

With all those compilation scores being released, you would forget those minor production albums. Arcade had a great idea, and combining Academy big motifs and winning scores into one compilation can only be described as a great project. But performed by the Philharmonic Academy Orchestra? Recorded in Holland? I suddenly began to question this performance in all it's categories. And perhaps it amused me when I was 10, this score needs to be checked out again, and 10 years later, with all the experience of knowing these scores from the bottom of my heart, it was more then likely this minor production would face the consequences. So, let's start this examination okay. The biggest test is more then likely John Williams' Schindler's List, not so much focussing on the orchestra which is missing the key essence of Williams' tragic music, but rather the performance of solo violist Ernі Olah, which is rather good, actually very good. Of course Itzhak Perlman's performance is much better but it feels very much alike. The Piano of Michael Nyman is a gorgeous piano solo, backed up by the orchestra and listens very nice, but I never heard the original so it is difficult to grade it. John Barry's Dances with Wolves fails, because of the rather loud performance by the ethnic pipes, a rather misguided performance. The flute is definitely present and very good in Rain Man of Hans Zimmer, but this time the electronic background is partially too slow and missing that fine touch that Zimmer adds to his scores.

Angelo Badalamenti's haunting Twin Peaks motives are rather a surprise, because not directly Oscar material, the performance however is good, missing minor key elements of success but true to the feeling of the show, and that is the most important thing of all. Barry seems to be hard to copy, because this warm feeling you're having isn't found in Out of Africa, it's a nice try, but true fans of Barry will discover that the magic feeling is totally missing from this track, including the other performances. This said, 'Two Socks' from Dances with Wolves partially succeeds, in minor ways, but once again missing that key magic that made Barry's score such a classic. Vangelis' with Bitter Moon is enjoyable, though I never heard the original (still, I recognized it). Barry's Indecent Proposal fails again, this time even harder with an electronic sounding motif replacing an orchestral part, I didn't hear the original version but Barry with an electronic musical part if he has that rich emotional sound of the orchestra? I don't think so. Same here with Basic Instinct, this sounds much more cheaper, I think it is hard also to capture the same mood with those electronic sounds. The problem is also that they picked so much John Barry moments, with 'Karen's theme' from Out of Africa it is the same thing as all the others, but here especially the use of those electronic sounding musical parts. Kitaro's Heaven & Earth succeeds in every way possible, I sometimes wondered if this was the original. Not true to the original though but one of the better moments of performed cues. Both The Last Emperor and Little Buddha are unknown pieces to me.

Vangelis and Badalamenti's pieces are good but the obvious flaw and true crime of this score is John Williams' Jurassic Park. While the track listens as a completely synthesized version, they succeed to play the main theme wrong in several notes and add an electronic background mood that more then likely can be found in a good pop song these days. This is a complete humiliation of Williams' brilliant theme, what a contrast to the first piece that was so good performed. If there were hopes of a good recommendation, it is blown. Jesus. Silvestri's last piece doesn't add something spectacular though it listens good. The problem of this compilation is that the orchestral performances fails much more then other solo performances. Especially during the John Barry's tracks, to reach Barry's trademark there must be more warmth and emotion coming from the orchestra. And especially it feels like the orchestra is shifting from their orchestral instrument to a synthesized piece as the album nears it's end. The Oscar Album is musically speaking a nice background score with two good pieces, and some better moments. However Jurassic Park is simply not worthy of a performance like that, no matter how small or unknown the orchestra is. It was a good 7 but Jurassic Park destroyed that, an average 51/2 and a note for the Williams fans! Not in a million years listen to the piece of Jurassic Park.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Schindler's List (John Williams) (4.10) Excellent Track

2. The Piano (Michael Nyman) (4.45)

3. Dances With Wolves (John Barry) (2.20)

4. Rain Man (Hans Zimmer) (3.22)

5. Twin Peaks (Angelo Badalamenti) (4.50)

6. Out Of Africa (John Barry) (3.06)

7. Two Socks From Dances With Wolves (John Barry) (3.34)

8. Bitter Moon (Vangelis) (5.14)

9. Indecent Proposal (John Barry) (4.26)

10. Basic Instinct (Jerry Goldsmith) (4.16)

11. Karen's Theme From Out Of Africa (John Barry) (3.45)

12. Heaven & Earth (Kitaro) (3.48) Excellent Track

13. The Last Emperor (David Byrne) (4.11)

14. Little Buddha (Sakamoto) (2.52)

15. 1492: Conquest Of Paradise (Vangelis) (4.51)

16. Laura Palmer's Theme From Twin Peaks (4.03)

17. Jurassic Park (John Williams) (3.25)

18. The Bodyguard (Alan Silvestri) (2.46)

Total Length: 70.16

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