"What a wonderful selection of such great film music. Seven tracks are not found on any other CD. And what tracks! Waxman's Juke Box #6 from Rear Window is an absolute gem! (I hope someday they'll release the Rear Window original soundtrack!). The Prelude from Marnie is another fascinating work of art. ...And Vertigo! ...And Dial M for Murder! Most of these tracks are the best thing we'll ever hear in film music. A fine CD to have and treasure."
Music to slice and dice (your veggies) by.
Joseph P. Menta, Jr. | Philadelphia, PA USA | 07/19/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Unlike many compilations of famous film music, many of the tracks heard here represent the actual music heard in the films, not recreations done years later by an obscure orchestra. And the fact that much of this "actual film music" comes from movies where there isn't a corresponding soundtrack album available in stores makes this CD doubly exciting. Further, in the case of the tracks that ARE recreations or suites based on the original selections, the quality of the performances is high (I'm especially thinking of Bernard Herrmann conducting his "Psycho" suite). Audiophiles should be warned that some of the opening tracks, such as those conducted by the great Dimitri Tiomkin, have a smaller sound and a bit of a tinny quality, due to the age of these historic recordings. Don't worry, the sound quality gets better as the album progresses, becoming more spacious and powerful when the stereo selections kick in. It should be noted, however, that all of the pieces are worth hearing due to the quality of the performances. The CD is over an hour long, includes an informative booklet, and everything is housed in an attractive black embossed case that opens out to display several terrific studio publicity photographs of Hitchcock. I bought this CD with my fingers crossed, as soundtrack compilations can be a mixed bag. But I am happy to report that this eclectic collection of actual soundtrack selections, lush suites, and even music Hitchcock ultimately rejected, was a terrific treat."
A must for fans; a good start for newcomers...
Joseph P. Menta, Jr. | 08/09/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A great selection where 7 out of 18 scores were previously unreleased. Hermann, Tiomkin and Waxman conducts their own works, plus others, in the original recordings with Paramount and Universal Orchestras, besides the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. Look for it!"
THE Essential one
Stefan Huber | Bischofstetten Austria | 07/29/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Beside Silva Screen's and Varese's attempts to re-record the entire catalogue of Hitchcock movie music, this seems to be the most important Hitchcock release of the CD era. Included are several tracks, that make their audio debut.
The "Alfred Hitchcock presents..." theme is available on several other compilations, but most often in the more common concert version of Charles Gounod. Finally, this is the snippet, as presented in the television show. Track 2 and 3 are nostalgic treasures by Dimitri Tiomkin, "Dial M For Murder" and "I Confess" (without the chorus of the actual soundtrack). One can only hope, that Warner will come up with the original tracks some day.
Franz Waxman's score to "Rear Window" may be totally untypical for a Hitchock movie, but works perfectly with the accompanying 1950's style of the film. Collectors should notice, that a piano version of "That's Amore" can be directly taken from the end credits of the DVD (perhaps the best sign, that the masters are still intact!). "Scene D'Amour" appears here in its original recording under the direction of Muir Matthieson (taken from Varese Sarabande's soundtrack album) and is perhaps one of the best examples for the outstanding works Hitchcock and Herrmann created together. "The Wild Ride", the main theme from "North By Northwest", has been taken from Rhino's complete soundtrack issue, but unfortunately, due to the age of the recording, the energetic composition of Herrmann is very affected by tape distortion. This selection, however, can be found in superior sound quality on Warner's DVD issue of the movie. The "Psycho" concert suite compromises the most important excerpts from Herrmann's masterpiece, the energetic prelude, the fiddling murder and the famous finale. Unfortunately, this re-recording (done by the composer himself), often misses the tempos of the original recording. "Marnie" has been released in its entirety on the German label Tsunami. However, two excerpts of Herrmann's often highly romantic and energetic score haven been directly derived from the three-track masters for this release, "Prelude" and "Marnie" (miss-titled as "The Hotelroom" on the Tsunami CD), and sound much better than they ever did (also check out the DVD for additional music!). John Addison's "Main Title" for "Torn Curtain" has been derived from the Varese soundtrack album, but the sound quality has been improved by removing the reverb of the original issue. The following three selections are taken from Bernard Herrmann's rejected score for "Torn Curtain", which have never been released in their original recordings before (a re-recording of the complete score exists on Varese) and give you an insight how different the movie would have been, if Herrmann had done the job. Interestingly, the DVD issue includes some scenes underscored by these Herrmann originals. The "March" from "Topaz" and the "London Theme" from "Frenzy" have been taken from Silva's "Essential Alfred Hitchcock" album (by Paul Bateman and The City Of Prague Philharmonic), but perfectly capture the tempos of the original recording. The "Prelude" from "Wrong Man" is a very rhythmic recording taken from Elmer Bernstein's collection of Herrmann re-recordings. Fortunately, the CD also includes some previously unissued John Williams, the end title segment from "Family Plot". "A Portrait Of Hitch", a concert suite compromised of the main themes from the first Hitchcock-Herrmann movie "The Trouble With Harry" and conducted by the composer himself, concludes Universal's musical celebration of Alfred Hitchcock.
Personally, I think, that this item is an essential addition to any serious soundtrack or Hitchcock collection. Unfortunately, Universal seems not to have looked up their Hitchcock music vaults until they prepared the master's Universal movies on DVD. As this CD has been compiled in 1999, many selections do not appear in their original recordings. I hope, that Universal will someday fix this mistake and give us a complete collection of scores to Hitchcock movies. If your are looking for a complete representation of Hitchcock movie music, I would strongly recommend the Silva 2 CD set "Essential Alfred Hitchcock"."
BEST HITCHCOCK MUSIC CD AROUND!!!
Sallie A. Martin | OK | 07/26/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have many cd's with music from Alfred Hitchcock's movies, but this by far is the best compilation cd. The music sounds the most like the actual movie music, and also contains rarities like Jukebox #6 from Rear Window. (I sure hope someday they will come out with an official Rear Window soundtrack). If you are a real Hitchcock fan you need to get this cd. Not only is the cd great but the liner notes, and picture detail in the cd case is great. I highly recommend this cd!"
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1
