Since 1994 the John Wilson Orchestra, with British conductor John Wilson at the helm, has become renowned throughout the world for their performances of music from the golden age of Hollywood and Broadway. In 2018, Wilson shifted focus and reestablished one of the most iconic orchestras in UK, the Sinfonia of London. The orchestra is best remembered for being on many great movie soundtracks, from “North by Northwest” to “The Snowman”. For this latest album, released in September on Chandos, John Wilson returns to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The album begins with Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s stirring overture from “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” (1939). The piece consists of the typical Korngold fingerprints, such as regal and swashbuckling themes.
This is followed by David Raksin’s theme from “Laura” (1944), a piece which I think sounds ahead of its time. This recording features a superb trombone solo from Andy Wood and the piece consists of some wonderfully written variations on the main theme.
The next piece is the “Wizard of Oz” suite (1939), which consists of melodies from Harold Arlen’s songs as well as Herbert Stothart’s incidental music. It immediately transports you to those vibrant technicolour images in the MGM film directed by Victor Fleming, who also directed “Gone With The Wind”. The A-flat bicycle bell of Almira Gulch (a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West) makes an appearance.
Next is Frederick Loewe’s composition for both the stage (1956) and film (1964) versions of “My Fair Lady”. The film version of his “Transylvanian March” and “Embassy Waltz” is orchestrated by Alexander Courage, who is well known for writing the original Star Trek theme as well as orchestrating the film scores of composers like John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith.
Next is a suite from Max Steiner’s music to “Now, Voyager” (1942), which conductor John Wilson has arranged himself. I first heard performed live by the John Wilson Orchestra at the 2019 BBC Proms.
The next piece composed by Johnny Mandel is the main title from “The Sandpiper” (1965). Mandel is best remembered for composing the song “Suicide is Painless” (1970), the theme from “M*A*S*H”. The theme from the “Sandpiper”, also known as “The Shadow of Your Smile” features a brilliant trumpet solo perform by Mike Lovatt, former principal trumpet player of the John Wilson Orchestra.
Next is Franz Waxman’s suite from “Rebecca”, which was an Alfred Hitchcock film from 1940, his first American project. The score made use of two Novachords which was a form of early electronic instrument not dissimilar to a synthesiser. To recreate the sound on this track, Wilson uses modern keyboard instruments.
Finally, the street scene from “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953) is Alfred Newman’s homage to Gershwin. I also think it also has traces of Charlie Chaplin’s score for “Modern Times” (1936), which Newman conducted and which David Raksin arranged with Edward Powell.
This SACD should be in the collections of all music lovers, even those are not keen on film scores. Also, I particularly like the brass playing on this album. The only criticism is… there should be more!
Acknowledgements…
Presto Music Classical Podcast: https://www.prestomusic.com/cl
Chandos Records: https://www.chandos.net/produc
Sinfonia of London: https://sinfoniaoflondon.com
John Wilson: https://johnwilsonconductor.co
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