The Sound of Adventure
City Light Symphony Orchestra/Kevin Griffiths
rec. 2021, Konzertsaal, KKL Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
Reviewed as lossless download
Prospero Classical PROSP0039 [112]
This is one of the easier reviews I’ve written in recent times. If you like selections of music from films, played well and programmed intelligently, then this is a no-brainer. As you can see from the contents list after the review, it is not just a selection of “lollipops”, but rather a well-chosen group of less common works, taken from adventure films, with genres including fantasy, sci-fi and historical. The really obvious works, such as the opening credits from the original Star Wars movie, and the Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back (the Darth Vader theme), are not here, but that’s perhaps because this label has already released an album of the film music of John Williams (which I hope to review).
The majority of the tracks are longer than four minutes, and none is shorter than two. This makes for a better listening experience: it is one of the problems of soundtracks that there are many very short bits, which make sense in the film, but are less so when simply listening.
The selections date back as far as 1938, with Korngold’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, but rather than the swashbuckler often heard, it is the Love Scene.Rózsa’s El Cid is one of the last hurrahs of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood film scores, and was apparently the reference point for James Horner’s The Mask of Zorro, which opens the album.
Perhaps the most musically satisfying work is the “suite” titled Adventures on Earth, compiled by John Williams from his music for ET: is it any wonder that this music won the Oscar that year? Not far behind is the Suite for Orchestra by Alan Silvestri, put together very skilfully from the three Back to the Future films.
Three “suites” from a Star Wars spinoff Rogue One are included, composed not by John Williams but rather Michael Giacchino, a name unfamiliar to me. Clearly and understandably, he made sure his work fitted into the existing Star Wars soundworld, and while they are perfectly fine, it is very obvious why Williams has 54 Oscar nominations and Giacchino two. Matters aren’t helped when the Rogue One selections are followed by two by Williams himself, with the album finishing with his glorious music from The Empire Strikes Back for Han Solo and Princess Leia.
112 minutes is rather underdone for two CDs, so I was a little surprised (and disappointed) that at least one excerpt from Howard Shore’s wonderful music for the Peter Jackson Tolkien films wasn’t included. Similarly, there is nothing from the Bond franchise, rather puzzling as the booklet notes mention that the orchestra “delights a wide audience with performances from the James Bond Concert Series films Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre”.
The City Light Symphony Orchestra is based in Lucerne, Switzerland – not what I’d expected from its name – and specialises in film music. Their performances are gloriously opulent and cinematic. I was able to make a direct comparison with another recording of the two Ron Goodwin pieces, a Naxos (originally Marco Polo) album under the direction of the composer that I reviewed in 2022: the new recording trumps the older one quite comprehensively, having so much more vitality and grandeur. Nor do they suffer in comparison with John Williams conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Adventures on Earth. The booklet notes provide a good historical perspective on the genre, rather than analysing the individual works. The sound is lush, as you would expect.
I was rather surprised to see the difference in price between the physical CD set (around £30) and download (£9, under the catalogue number PROSP16104) being offered at Presto Classical. If this music is to your liking and you are a CD person still, this might test your loyalty.
David Barker
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Contents
James Horner
The Mask of Zorro (1998): Suite
Miklós Rózsa
El Cid (1961): Love Theme; March
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938): Love Scene
Ron Goodwin
Lancelot and Guinevere (1963): Theme
John Debney
Cutthroat Island (1995): It’s Only Gold & End Credits
John Williams
Seven Years in Tibet (1997): End Credits
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): Finale & End Credits
Ron Goodwin
633 Squadron (1964): Overture
Jerry Goldsmith
Star Trek: First Contact (1996): End Credits
John Williams
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997): Theme
Alan Silvestri
Back to the Future (1985–1990): Suite for Orchestra
John Williams
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004): A Window to the Past; Buckbeak’s Flight
E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial (1982): Adventures on Earth
Michael Giacchino
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016): Jyn Erso & Hope Suite; The Imperial Suite; Guardians of the Whills Suite
John Williams
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018): The Adventures of Han
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Han Solo and the Princess
Other performers
David Castro-Balbi (violin), Alexandre Castro-Balbi (cello)
London Voices
