Users' Reviews
By AC115521
03-Mar-2011
Brian Easdale Collection
Some sixty odd years prior to the contemporaneous emotional travails of the protagonist in The Black Swan, there was the magical, visually breathtaking, The Red Shoes.
This 1948 film told the story of an equally conflicted ballerina played by Moira Shearer. The universal acclaim which greeted this film was in no small part heightened by its superb musical component. There have been several fine recordings of Brian Easdale’s music for the famed ballet sequence from The Red Shoes: Vladimir Golschmann, and Kenneth Alwyn, come to mind.
Now we have a stunning new version captured in the typically opulent sound associated with Chandos: an ideal blend of ambient warmth and transparency. Rumon Gamba, leads the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a complete, beautifully realized, well nigh definitive performance. As if this were not sufficient reason for serious consideration, the disc includes an imaginatively arranged bounty of other film scores as well as one concert rarity by the vastly under appreciated, British born Brian Easdale (1909-1995) - a name often unfamiliar even to avid devotees of this genre.
Among the many gems included is the haunting score Easdale composed for Black Narcissus, a one time controversial Deborah Kerr vehicle. The 13-minute suite assembled here features the considerable resources of the BBC National Chorus of Wales to excellent effect. At 76:52 minutes this is a generous collection of inventive, engaging material. As is customary with Chandos, packaging and liner notes are of the highest order. Highly recommended.
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