Search - Dimitri Tiomkin, Charles Gerhardt, National Philharmonic Orchestra :: Lost Horizon: Dmitri Tiomkin Scores

There should be more like this

Stuart M. Paine | Arlington, VA USA | 01/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Every film score enthusiast should have this. I know of no better Tiomkin disc. The variety, color and scope of the selections, the luscious National Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Gerhardt and the beautiful RCA recorded sound combine to make this one very special.



First, is it possible to think of a Tiomkin score better than LOST HORIZON? What a huge and variegated orchestral palette! And such entrancing, almost Scriabinesque composition! It's incredible that Tiomkin did this so early (1937) in his scoring career. That said though, my favorites on this disc are the short suites from THE BIG SKY (1952), the main theme of which must be the most glorious "western" tune ever, and FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956), which features the swooningly gorgeous "Thee I Love". ("Thee I Love", as recorded by Pat Boone, was even something of a pop hit at the time.)



Gerhardt is just SO good with this kind of thing and I love that he thought to put together this collection of music which is, for the most part, rather unfamiliar to even film score fans. To me, it's a plus that there's no HIGH NOON or THE ALAMO included. Certainly, of the selections here, the best known these days would be the excerpt from THE GUNS OF NAVARONE.



This CD is difficult to find and fairly expensive. It really is too bad that it's no longer in the catalog. The other Gerhardt albums are great, too.

"

Lost Horizon

Manic Obsession Music | ANAHEIM, CA. United States | 07/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Songs Include :



"Lost Horizon"

"Prelude"

"Forward Card"

"Riot In Baskul"

"Mob Scene At The Refueling Station"

"Morning After The Plane Crash"

"Arrival Of The Caravan"

"The Journey Over The Mountains"

"Entrance Into Shangri-La"

"Nocturne"

"Riding Sequence"

"The Waterfall"

"Chinese Children's Scherzo"

"Bell Sequence"

"Funeral Cortege Of The High Lama"

"Escape From Shangri-La"

"Return To Shangri-La"

"The Guns Of Navarone"

"Prelude"

"The Big Sky"

"Prelude"

"Forest At Night ( Nocturne )"

"The Wide Missouri ( Epilogue )"

"The Fourposter"

"Overture"

"Friendly Persuasion"

"Love Scene In The Barn"

"Search For Paradise"

"Choral Finale""

Great

Good Stuff | 12/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When this was first released on LP all those years ago, I noticed the recorded sound seemed slightly off from what RCA had earlier accomplished in their now fabled "Classic Film Scores" series. But it was still very good. At the time, I wrote it off to the LP mastering. RCA did have their ups and downs in those days.



So I eagerly awaited a CD release of this, and the other, recordings in the series. Initially, RCA released "The Sea Hawk" (Korngold) and Sunset Blvd. (Waxman) even going so far as to take advantage of the longer time available on CD to fill out the CDs with music by the two composers, respectively, that had been relegated to other LP releases. This was especially valuable in the Korngold disc in that for both "The Sea Hawk" and "Of Human Bondage" Charles Gerhardt had recorded a great deal of music that had been spread over several LPs. He sequenced the individual tracks of both scores into proper order, and offered suites, running 15 1/2 and 12 1/2 minutes each, respectively. They are stunning.



However, when RCA Records was sold to BMG, both releases were withdrawn. Later, the entire series was reissued, each CD an exact duplication of what had been on the original LP. All the work Gerhardt had done had gone to waste. BMG, for no reason I can think of, also remastered every CD into Dolby Stereo, with the result, in my opinion, that the sound suffered slightly, though in general they were still very good. Except for "Lost Horizon". Here, it seems to me, they ran the car into a ditch. The sound is simply not as good as it was on the LP. I'm at a loss to try to understand what they were up to. But make no doubt about it, it isn't as good as it should be. A single example: The "Lost Horizon" suite builds up to a tremendous climax that includes a striking of a huge gong near the end. It was, in a way, the big thrill of the original LP. The first time I heard it, it sent a chill up my back. Here, the mastering has so modulated and equalized the overall sound, that the gong goes by all but unnoticed. Play the last five minutes of the suite and tell me if you can even hear it. And, by-the-way, if you listen to the suite from "The Thing", which should have been included on this CD, but was relegated to the "World of Classic Film Scores" CD instead, you can hear what this CD should sound like. It was recorded at the same sessions as the rest of the Tiomkin CD, but was left off the original LP for time consideration. The sound is brilliant.



That said, get this if you can. It's still wonderful music. And given the state of the economy in general and the recording industry in particular, the likelihood of this series getting a decent reissue is just about nil.



However, it wouldn't hurt the specialized companies that are around now to consider a new recording of the complete "Lost Horizon" score, much in the manner of the recent redo of "The Guns of Navarone". It could be great."