Prince Valiant (Promo)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

I never heard before of David Bergeaud. And probably you haven't either. Until today! Because today I'm introducing you to him through Prince Valiant, a movie people never saw which is sad since everybody should see beauty Katherine Heigl of Roswell fame in action. Speaking about you, I haven't seen it also but I heard the score now and that is what I wanted in the first place. This score is no grand orchestral rush but it could have been, if the budget for the musical score was simply higher. But 49 musicians playing the strings and several solo instruments such as harp, penny whistle and arrays of percussion, and you've got a score that's truly good because of its music. David Bergeaud crafted a score with a small orchestra and added some oomph with synthesizers but the effect is truly enjoyable. It doesn't pack the punch a mammoth orchestra could have delivered but it is the music here which is of essence, not the performance throughout. The music is a typical adventure score, with a heroic main theme and a really really lovely love theme (or romance theme as they describe it in the extensive liner notes). To tell you that the love theme listens as beautiful as Katherine Heigl and you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, it is the heroic theme showing its first appearance in 'Main Title', and it moves on from there. Some Celtic touches with more low sounding main theme performances in 'Arctic' and action statements of this theme in 'The Joust' make the begin worthwhile.

The love theme receives excellent attention in 'Leaving Camelot' and the beautiful four minute 'Rainy Night', which brings (when the strings collide) tones people loved from Braveheart. I'm not a sucker for love themes but when they bring so much elegance and emotion as this one, I adore it. The occasional more synthetic tones appears more with evidence as in other tracks (like 8) but the quality overall prevails. The two non composed tracks by Bergeaud are source cues but 'Tavern #1' with its folksy playfulness reminds me of Settlers VI easily and is equally pleasant. While the love theme appears through penny whistle in tracks 13 and 15, it is the percussion suspense in 'Final Confrontation' that is noticed more. The main and love theme receive excellent attention in the final tracks, with even some bells in the last 'King Arthur's Blessings'. Together Prince Valiant is enjoyable. It has several weaknesses like when the tracks run through each other, you hear a short pause before it moves into the next. Hence you hear when the tracks switch and of course that the budget couldn't make for a more orchestral bigger performance. But never mind since the positive points are stronger. A smooth 40 minute listen (with terrific added liner notes) gives way for an adventurous main theme and a great love theme in a harmonic pleasing score. Prince Valiant may not sound as large as the biggest adventure scores but I know that it could have eclipsed efforts like A Kid in Aladdin's Palace if it just had orchestral bombast. So, this makes that the effort by Bergeaud is still pleasing enough and I recommend it for its outstanding qualities. And since it is a release from just 1000 copies, I would be quick when you are interested in it.

\ЕЕЕ1/2/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title (2.02) Excellent Track

2. Arctic (2.41)

3. The Tournament (3.28)

4. The Joust (3.30)

5. Leaving Camelot (1.24)

6. Rainy Night (4.57) Excellent Track

7. The Castle (2.58)

8. The Duel (2.39)

9. Rescuing Gawain (2.11)

10. The Beach (1.12)

11. Tavern #1 * (1.33)

12. Tavern #2 * (0.36)

13. The Obelisk (3.18)

14. Pechet's Launch (1.39)

15. "I Want To Be A Knight (1.13)

16. Final Confrontation (1.28)

17. Back To Life (3.09) Excellent Track

18. King Arthur's Blessings (1.50)

* Composed by Firouzeh Afsharnia

Total Length: 41.58

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons