A Welcome Reissue of an Acclaimed Complete Score Recording
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 10/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This issue on Naxos is a reissue of an out-of-print 2001 Marco Polo release which can still be found online but generally at inflated prices. It features almost the complete score of Max Steiner's music for the classic combination film noir and Western, 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', surely one of the finest American films, certainly one of the finest films directed by John Huston. It won him two Oscars. His father, Walter Huston, also won an Oscar for best supporting actor. And who can forget Humphrey Bogart's increasingly paranoid 'Dobbs' in B. Craven's story of lust for gold and its effect on the mental balance of those greedy souls who go after it? The score, as I say, is almost complete and certainly much more complete than previous recordings of 'suites' from the score. The only things missing are a few brief repetitious cues. At the end of the CD are three extra cues -- for the theatrical trailer, the alternate main title and the alternate finale.
Max Steiner's film music is a known quantity, sometimes now thought to be a bit old-fashioned in its use of luxurious orchestral textures utilizing a style he learned in his native Vienna. And there are those who feel that this score is a bit over the top. But anyone who has seen the film and paid particular attention to the use it makes of Steiner's score will agree that it is extraordinarily effective. Some argue that the 'Mexican' music actually sounds Spanish, and that is probably true (although I find that the 'Texas memories' cue does in fact sound at times more Mexican than Texan!). Still, this is vintage Steiner and worth preserving.
The score has been reconstructed by the redoubtable John Morgan, the noted film music expert. In his booklet notes he pays particular attention to the contribution made by Steiner's orchestrator, Murray Cutter, and I say bravo to that! The score is played beautifully by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, often used in Marco Polo/Naxos film score recordings, and they are deftly conducted by William T. Stromberg, surely one of the best in this field.
Recommended for those who know and love the film, and for those who enjoy film music per se.
Scott Morrison"
