BY DARREN ALLISON
“Casablanca - Classic Film
Scores for Humphrey Bogart†(CDLK4639 ) was originally
recorded on September 6th & 7th, 1973 and released on vinyl (on both the
RCA Gold and Red Seal label in 1974). It was also released on a Quadraphonic LP
the same year. The album masters were remastered at BMG Studio D on August 18,
1989 and from that came the CD for which we are probably most familiar (a
successful series which came in a dark blue coloured tray and recognised by the
silver film strip across the top right of the cover of the 20 page booklet).
The recordings by Charles Gerhardt and The National Philharmonic Orchestra are
quite spectacular, from the opening Warner Bros logo and the superb suite from
Casablanca (1942) to Passage to Marseille (1944) to The Treasure of the Sierra
Madre (1948)… in fact, name just about any Bogart classic and it’s likely to be
included here. The vast range of featured composers varies from Max Steiner, Miklós
Rózsa, Victor Young, Franz Waxman and Frederick Hollander. This album always sounded good, and the truth
is, it still does. Vocalion have of course improved upon it once again to a
spectacular, higher level of clarity – thanks largely to the remastering from
the original analogue tapes by Michael J. Dutton. They have also added to the original playlist
by including the Main Theme to Peyton Place (1957), again performed by Gerhardt
and The National Philharmonic. Being the purists that Vocalion are, they have
also reverted back to the original 1974 artwork, instead of the later, lighter
RCA Victor CD. It’s a lot darker and slightly broodier – but for its
retrospective, attention to detail accuracy, it works on just about every
level. It’s a classic and a corker, and the tracks are as timeless as the
movies themselves. If you felt it was about time to add this one to the
collection, you can’t really go far wrong with this latest edition.
“David Raksin Conducts His
Great Film Scores†(CDLK4641) is another on
equal par with the Classic Film Scores for Humphrey Bogart. It was another of
RCA Red Seal’s Quadrophonic releases, this time emerging in 1976. Recorded in
England, David Raksin conducted the New Philharmonia Orchestra whilst Charles
Gerhardt served as producer. Opening
with the beautifully orchestrated Laura (1944), the CD is then separated into
two sections - (Scenarios from) The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and finally a
suite of some 25 minutes from Forever Amber (1947). Again, this was another in
the same RCA Victor ‎/ BMG Classics which
saw a CD release in 1989. As above, this new edition from Volcalion’s SACD, Hybrid Multi-channel
series really advances the purity and production levels to grand new heights. The
quality is such, that you would be pushed to argue that this wasn’t recorded
earlier this year – in fact, I’ve heard more modern recordings that don’t even
get close. Again, this has to be attributed to the remastering of Michael J.
Dutton. When the man comes into contact with those original analogue tapes and
the magic in the fingers touch the soundboards, gold dust seems to emerge. True to their traditional values, Vocalion
have reverted to the original Quadrophonic artwork and provided a lovely,
detailed book. I can only hope that Vocalion keep coming up with the
spectacular; they remain arguably the best in the business. Both highly
recommended.
Available
at https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/