Search - Various Artists :: Warriors of Silver Screen

Enthralling

V'lé Onica | IRELAND | 06/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The majority of this compilation is simply entrancing. The 10 minute segment from "Prince Valiant" & the all too short excerpts from "Spartcus" & "The Warlord" are magnificent. Only recently has the musical world, once again, found such talent as the composers of these scores."

Music for the warrior within us all

Michael J. Mazza | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 04/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Warriors of the Silver Screen" is a magnificent two-disc anthology of excerpts from orchestral film scores. The theme uniting all of these scores is the fact that each movie is about a warrior, or similar epic hero. These are not the original recordings, but rather superb new renditions done by the City of Prague Philharmonic, conducted by Paul Bateman, Nic Raine, and Kenneth Alwyn. Many of the tracks also feature the Crouch End Festival Chorus, conducted by David Temple.I have become quite a fan of film score anthology CDs, and, in my opinion, "Warriors" is among the best of such collections. This is a collection with a truly historic sweep: the composers represented here range from legends of past generations to some of our best contemporary composers. And the films represented include both beloved classics and recent favorites.These two discs are full of excellent music, performed with passion by a wonderful team of musicians. Disc One gets off to a thrilling start with Franz Waxman's rowdy "Taras Bulba." I also really loved the dramatic use of the chorus on Jerry Goldsmith's composition for "First Knight." But things really heat up on the incredible second disc. The melancholy heroism of James Horner's "Braveheart," the savage beauty of Basil Poledouris' "Conan the Barbarian," the epic majesty of Miklos Rozsa's "Ben-Hur," the stirring adventurousness of Bernard Hermann's "Jason and the Argonauts," the lusty power of Mario Nascimbene's "The Vikings"--this is some of the greatest music ever composed for the cinema. And I haven't even praised it all.And if all of this glorious music weren't enough, the discs are accompanied by David Wishart's fascinating notes about each film. Warriors and thieves, barbarians and seafarers--the characters celebrated by this music have a universal appeal. So enjoy the music, and feel the warrior spirit stir within your own heart."