Film Music – Sounds of Hollywood Vol. 2 [TrackList follows] – Vogtland Philharmonie/ Stefan Fraas – Ars Produktion mutlichannel SACD ARS 38 120, 62:45 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
This is the second album of themes from famous Hollywood films as well as pop classics in the film music genre, performed in spectacular hi-res surround sound by this Bavarian orchestra. The album was obviously never intended for English-speaking audiences: “Der Duft der Frauen” (The Scent of a Woman), “Fluch der Karibik” (Pirates of the Caribbean). There is a paragraph in English on each of the movie themes, and one can search out the English translations, but they are not on the jewel box or in the front of the note booklet.
The orchestra, which is active also in Saxony, Thuringia and the Czech Republic, is just as comfortable with this movie music as is the Prague Philharmonic which has done so many CDs of movie music. And the surround sonics, recorded just earlier this year, are much better. in some case the original composer of the theme was involved in this special arrangement for symphony orchestra. In other cases various arrangers worked to expand the music from the soundtrack original to these versions for full symphony orchestra. The second track on the SACD is a Tribute to John Williams, with themes from Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., Superman, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones. Great fun for movie music/hi-res surround fans!
TrackList: Mission Impossible, Scent of a Woman, The Last Samurai, Ben Hur, Spider-Man, The Mission, The Pink Panther, Troy, The Typewriter (Leroy Anderson), Doctor Zhivago, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
—John Sunier
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