Rob Barnett reviews Herrmann’s BATTLE OF NERETVA for MusicWeb International. Recording of the Month! To read the full review click on the link.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Mar12/Herrmann_Neretva_TFC1007.htm
BEST ARCHIVAL RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE • THE BATTLE OF NERETVA/THE NAKED AND THE DEAD, music by Bernard Herrmann; conducted by William Stromberg; album produced by William Stromberg, John Morgan and Anna Bonn; liner notes by Jim Doherty and Kevin Scott; album art direction by Jim Titus (Tribute Film Classics). Click the link to read full article and see the complete list of winners. more.http://filmmusiccritics.org/2012/02/ifmca-winners-2011/
Hot off the presses! Announcing a new compilation CD from Tribute Film Classics available now at Screen Archives. http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/17143/TRIBUTE-FILM-CLASSICS-HIGHLIGHTS/ This is a limited release offered at only $4.95!
This Highlights TFC sampler also contains tracks from the forth-coming 2CD release of ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN and ARCENIC AND OLD LACE by Max Steiner.
William Stromberg conducts The Moscow Syphony Orchestra. Music reconstruction and preparation by Anna Bonn, John Morgan and William Stromberg.
http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/16839/BATTLE-OF-NERETVA-THE-NAKED-AND-THE-DEAD-PRE-ORDER/
Click the link to hear sample tracks
Moscow Symphony Orchestra conducted by William Stromberg. Music reconstruction and preparation by John Morgan, Anna Bonn and William Stromberg.
The Tribute Film Classics team delivers a knockout recording of a great Bernard Herrmann find, the complete score for the 1969 WWII drama, Battle of Neretva. Written for full orchestra with expanded brass and percussion sections, the score mirrors the tone of the story, and features suspenseful moments of subdued tension, bittersweet string interludes, trudging music of despair for the displaced evacuees, but most of all, incredibly powerful, exciting, and relentless battle music and marches.
The score as heard in the film was, for the most part, butchered. Almost none of the cues are heard in their entirety, and some were dropped altogether. Although an original soundtrack CD was issued on the Southern Cross label, it contained only about thirty minutes of the score. This new Tribute recording doubles that amount, and presents the complete versions of all the music heard in the film, plus several unused cues, all in exceptionally well-recorded, thrillingly detailed sound. For those who have only heard the old CD, and especially those who have only seen the severely edited movie, this new recording will be a revelation. Astute listeners will notice that Herrmann revisited a few of his earlier works, reworking a few cues from previous scores, most notably On Dangerous Ground (including the famous Death Hunt, which receives a riveting, adrenaline-filled performance here).
Also included are highlights of Herrmann’s score for another WWII film, The Naked and the Dead (1958), featuring a pounding, determined main title march that is a showcase for the massed brasses and percussion. Other portions alternate between slower atmospheric pieces for the soldiers’ treks through the jungle, and piercing, angry cues when they engage the enemy.
The 32 page booklet designed by Jim Titus is filled with extensive notes by Jim Doherty and Kevin Scott on the films and scores.
William Stromberg, Anna Bonn, John Morgan and Screen Archives Entertainment are pleased to announce that we have successfully recorded two new albums from Max Steiner and Bernard Herrmann. A complete restoration and 2-Disk set of Steiner’s ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN and ARSENIC AND OLD LACE were recorded October 2010 with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Also recorded was Herrmann’s THE BATTLE OF NERETVA and a suite from NAKED AND THE DEAD with many music cues that has never been previously recorded or released. The Moscow Symphony Orchestra beautifully performed these scores under the baton of William Stromberg. Both albums are planned for a release in Spring/Summer 2011.