This is another emigrant
from Marco Polo [8.570184] and joins
the Naxos Film Music Classics series,
a burgeoning one that reflects well
on the company’s steady devotion to
the art on disc. The music is by Max
Steiner and was written for two Bette
Davis vehicles, All This, and Heaven
Too and the post-War A Stolen
Life.
One thing that distinguishes
the series, apart from the purely musical
values embodied by the Moscow Symphony’s
performance under the experienced John
Morgan, is the nature and quality of
the supporting notes; you won’t necessarily
want to plough through the purely theatrical-dramatic
ramifications, nor – if you’re not much
of a cineaste – will you much be exercised
by what Bette Davis thought, or didn’t
think about her roles in these films;
but it’s good to know that these details
are here.
All This, and Heaven
Too has a hundred minutes of music,
which is here condensed to under half
that length by means of eliminating
repetition and such like. The orchestration
is by Hugo Friedhofer, whom Steiner
held in the highest professional esteem
for his work – and no wonder. The result
is a kind of through-composed Wagnerian
approach, rich, vibrant, exciting and
fully up to the expected Steiner Standard.
There are twelve cuts
and some run scenes together. The Carriage
Ride scene, for instance, lasts a mere
1:32 whilst track eight holds All Hallows
Eve, the Lotis Song, Springtime and
the Carousel and consequently lasts
5:42. The Duke’s Dying and finale lasts
an even longer 7:28. In other words
there is plenty of variety both musical
and in terms of cutting.
That Carriage Ride
is written in Steiner’s best light and
airy style whereas A Night To Remember
for Louise is full of rich, verdant
and gorgeous lyricism. A feature of
the writing is the opposition between
the open-hearted lyricism of the love
music and the more eerie, malevolent
writing; for such things Steiner reserves
percussion and here we find him using
two pianos and celesta and more besides.
Romance and portent hover over the final
scene before the End Cast – always a
good feature of the series in presenting
an "authentic" listening experience.
The companion work
is a more sparsely and simply orchestrated
affair lasting twenty-six minutes in
this reconstruction. Best to pass over
the note’s reference to a "sea
chanty" and better to concentrate
on the precision of the writing and
its effective realisation. A Stolen
Life has a central storm scene which
is the opposite of grandiose in its
orchestration – instead the clever use
of the piano effectively evokes the
hubbub without undue exaggeration. There
are some splendid little dance moments
and some cod Nauticalia that amuses.
Standards are strongly
maintained in this release – giving
a budget price injection to a notably
well curated series.
Jonathan Woolf
see also review
by Bob Briggs
Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/William
Stromberg 
