Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Mantovani Sound

I shall have to replace my pc mouse whose genetic made-up has a buying compulsion. It went on a clicking spree chalking up CDs and books. The hole it burnt in its owner's pocket will need mending. However, one of the CDs it selected is assuredly a gem that I just have to babble about.

In my early adult years, I grew up much exposed to the sound of the Mantovani orchestra. Because that was in the vinyl LP era when CD technology was unknown, I had given them up as having being consigned to posterity. Imagine what childish delight to discover what I know will be a fabulous treat: two previously released LPs re-mastered into one compact disc, only as recently as 2005.

Both LPs are historic and were best-sellers in he mid-60s, hitting the billboard chart at their peaks. Music from the Films, with Rawicz and Landauer on the pianos, took a classical approach to a movie soundtrack genre. It is so well orchestrated and the performance so polished as a whole that it leaves an indelible mark on one’s reverie of years long past.

The dramatic opening of Warsaw Concerto with a cadenza stirs the imagination while Serenata D’Amore is seductively romantic. The Dream of Olwen weaves a surrealistic dream that The Legend of the Glass Mountain relives as a forgotten legend. The Story of Three Loves illustrates the poignancy of love in three unrelated romances. I recall watching the first episode on our local channel in which James Mason plays a ballet impresario while his co-star, whose name I cannot recall, plays the part of a gifted dancer. Forbidden by her doctor to dance because of her heart condition, she could never quite be herself otherwise. It was to this beautiful variation theme that Rachmaninoff adapted from Panganini that she dances to at the foot of the stairs, if my memory serves me right. That theme, as well as the opening bars of Cornish Rhapsody, was used as the signature tune to Chinese radio dramas on Rediffusion. Cornish Rhapsody captures the wild haunting beauty of the desolation of a Cornish coastal landscape, where the waves alternatively caress and lash at the coast line and cliffs. Never mind that one never visited such a landscape in this entire life for such is the power of music over the mind to evoke and conjure. Film Encores is an epitome of the mantovani touch at its best. Every track in it carries his trademark of lyricism that has not been rivaled by any other orchestra. The themes from which the movies are taken have popularized the movies themselves. Whatever memories, sounds and sights lost in the intervening years will come alive again for me. Thanks to modern technology.


click pic to enlarge

The Mantovani sound, scored with a large strings section, is unique for its lush sonorous effect that sweeps you off your feet. It soars and, like the majestic Niagara Falls, cascades as an incomparable musical experience.

I have CD recordings of past releases that do not quite measure up, as if the orchestra had already lost it peak. Either that or the record companies were just masquerading in his name to sell. When Mantovani died in 1980, Stanely Black took over the helm. However, natural attrition took its toll because the Mantovani sound can be achieved only with the use of a very large violin section. To my knowledge, it appears not to have been duplicated with equal success.

On this CD: (cd notes copied from CD store)

  1. Warsaw Concerto for piano & orchestra (for the film "Dangerous Moonlight"/"Suicide Squadron")
    Composed byRichard Addinsell
  2. Serenata d'amore
    Composed by Annunzio Paolo Mantovani
  3. The Dream of Olwen, for piano & orchestra (From the film "The Way to the Stars")
    Composed by Charles Williams (Listen to this dreadful this recording from YouTube. It is insulting to seniors if they think this is geared for their pace)
  4. The Glass Mountain, film score The Legend of the Glass Mountain
    Composed by Nino Rota
  5. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Introduction and 24 Variations), in A minor for piano & orchestra, Op. 43
    Composed by Sergey Rachmaninov (4 recordings just show popular this piece of music is. First. Second. Third. Fourth.
  6. Cornish Rhapsody for piano & orchestra
    Composed by Hubert Bath
  7. My Foolish Heart, film score My Foolish Heart
    Composed by Victor Young (Song by Margaret Whiting and The Arbors)
  8. Unchained Melody
    Composed by Alex North (Il Divo from YouTube)
  9. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (for the film The Wizard of Oz)
    Composed by Harold Arlen (Sung by American idol contestant and Judy Garland respectively. additionally with slides from the movie.)
  10. Summertime In Venice, song (from the film Summertime)
    Composed by Alessandro Cicognini
  11. Intermezzo, film score Escape to Happiness
    Composed by Heinz Provost
  12. Three Coins in the Fountain, song
    Composed by Jule Styne (Sung by Frank Sinnatra)
  13. Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (for the film Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing)
    Composed by Sammy Fain (Sung by the Four Aces and a home karaoke)
  14. Laura (for the film, "Laura")
    Composed by David Raksin
  15. High Noon, film score High Noon
    Composed by Dimitri Tiomkin (First Scene, Second Scene from the movie, and Sung by Frankie Laine)
  16. Hi-Lilli, Hi-Lo (from the film Lily)
    Composed by Bronislaw Kaper (From YouTube)
  17. September Song, song for voice & piano (from "Knickerbocker Holiday")
    Composed by Kurt Weill
  18. Limelight, film score Theme
    Composed by Charlie Chaplin (3 recordings: from the movie, on the guitar and, on the accordion)

posted by Victor Lai @ 10:55 PM

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