Search - Hugo W. Friedhofer (Composer); Kurt Graunke (Conductor) :: The Film Music of Hugo Friedhofer

Worth hearing.

Patrick W. Crabtree | Lucasville, OH USA | 01/05/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hugo Friedhofer wrote scores for a LOT of films! His work is always first-class, if a bit dated to the 50s -- but I LIKE 50s stuff so it works for me. I got interested in Friedhofer after hearing his filmscore for "Never So Few" a big production studio WWII flick starring Frank Sinatra. When I began researching Friedhofer, this CD was about all I could find of his works so I gave it a try. Classical fans will enjoy the first half but not the second segment (which sort of sounds like jazzy old porno-film music). Still, The first half is lengthy enough to make this a worthwhile purchase. How can I best describe it? This is difficult beyond saying that it's typically Hollywood stuff, tastefully conveyed, (Conductor Graunke has his own much-accomplished, Munich-based orchestra), containg a few pleasant surprises and mostly melodic with obvious "50s-suspense" moments. A bit akin to Previn's Hollywood renderings. I can't recommend it flat out for the classical music collector but I highly recommend it to Hollywood buffs. I enjoyed it very much and re-listen to it occassionally."