Max Steiner

As a lover of Italian music, I bought this CD because it was first on the Amazon.com list when I typed in Italian music, so I figured it would be spectacular. I must admit, I was somewhat disappointed overall. I realize these are old recordings, but they really do sound dated and unimaginative now. In some instances, I wonder how the original recording back in the '50s made it to the charts, it was so poorly done musically. Wish I could have heard some tracks before I spent the money for this. Just my opinion. If you can listen to it beforehand, I encourage you to do so.

Agree with the buyer who found this CD "so so." The songs are simply a compilation of some rather old versions of Italian melodies, with really dated arrangements. Nothing exciting or original here at all. Would definitely not recommend. We were disappointed, as we bought the CD for an Italian wedding, but tossed it....we found another one on Amazon that served us much better and had more original and lively music. If you want a historical compilation of old versions of Italian songs, you may like this, but it doesn't serve today's sophisticated sound tastes at all.

I recently ordered this CD and have enjoyed it. The music is a variety of artists and if you like Italian music, you will enjoy this CD.

I would recommend this CD.

italian majors would appreciate this album. lots of fun songs that i've been trying to find. some, unfortunately, are just instrumentals. they're still good listens so i'm overall satisfied.

We're planning a wedding with an Italian themed reception. This has a great selection of music. Highly recommened for that classic Italian sound.

Wonderful! Thoroughly enjoyed all 4 discs. You feel, hear and appreciate the full & powerful sounds and the musical clarity and quality ... just like being in the movie theatre...It's a huge compilation of great and memorable music!

you would have to buy dozens of individual soundtracks to include even some of the music here. slight adjustment to john williams (for example) originals but well performed. outstanding variety. use these cds to jump start your day with triumph!

I absolutely love this collection. It certainly matches its title. I use some of the music in workshops for movement and everyone has a great time moving through Goldfinger, Indiana Jones, Pink Panther, and the Stormtroopers! Hearing the Titanic hit the ice is bone chilling. It's a great compilation. Thank you!

This music is a multi-CD pack that includes only instrumental music. I am a person who really likes this type of music. Many different movie music themes are included in this set including: mission impossible, Titanic, Superman, and others. Eric Kunzel is the main author of this collection but many others are also showcased. I highly recommend this set.

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra led by Erich Kunzel has recorded some of the best orchestral versions of film scores. This is indeed the ultimate collection and a good starting point to explore the many albums from epic soundtracks to gentle love themes; great silver screen classics to modern award winners.

Due to the source material, yes, the sound quality is comparatively poor, but it's still quite enjoyable.

As a soundtrack, I'll admit that Tara's theme (and a couple others) are amazingly unforgettable, but I'm not sure the entire soundtrack works as cohesively as I would have liked. Nevertheless, the album is a solid purchase if you want to hear all the main cues from the film.

Recording quality is poor, but the music is special. The person who wants to be go to 50 years ago's emotion, it is a must CD

I was very pleased with the cd . It was in excellent condition and I received it very quickly ... especially at Christmas , as it was needed for a gift . Five stars to this seller and product .

This CD includes all of the "major" musical numbers in GWTW (such as the "Tara's Theme", of course) and is probably sufficient for most casual listeners. However, I was quite disappointed to find that many of the great pieces of background music found in the movie are missing. One example is the wonderful but brief segment of the "Southern Belle Waltz" that plays while Scarlett and Rhett scandalize Atlanta by dancing while she's still "in mourning". Another beautiful piece is the lush little harp & string segment at the end of Ashley Wilke's Christmas leave (where Scarlett watches him return to the war and vows to win him over), and the mournful church bell & string tune that follows (as we learn that the South is losing the war). I strongly recommend that you buy the "Deluxe" 2-CD version that contains these and many other little pieces of music instead. It's worth the extra dollars!

I love the music from Gone With The Wind!!! The theme is my favorite of all time!!! BYOO-TI-FUL!!! Anyone who does not like it...YOU ARE WEIRD!!! ok, you're not, but it's really good music and (...)

great listening cd. This arrived quickly and in great shape. Would definitel buy from this seller again.

You know that feeling you get when you walk into Universal Studios? The full and booming sounds of all the great movie soundtracts greet you as you meander around. You feel like you're on a film set or in the audience of the Academy Awards? That's what you get with this CD. I bought this CD to go with an Academy Awards/Hollywood Walk-of-Fame theme party that I did for work. It was PERFECT!!!!! It would be perfect to have playing on the stereo at your house when your guests arrive for and Academy Awards party. Set out movie theatre snacks, flavored popcorn, Juji Fruits, Raisinetes, sodas, and you're good to go.

Please also see my review for the CD Beautiful Hollywood.

For those that purchase soundtrack collages to have a variety of songs and themes, then this is good for you. Unfortunately, these tracks didn't have the signature Erich Kunzel version of the songs as he had on other soundtrack mix CDs. It was more like just that, a mix CD of different soundtracks and scores. However, it was a good buy in the fact that the tracks chosen had excellent sound quality and a sense of harmony.

we put this CD in on a long road trip. We played a guessing game as to which one knew the movie. The music was excellent.

This is an outstanding collection of film music. The sound is qulity is very good. The selections cover a good range from various film genres and time periods. I like this CD.

Casablanca is an icon. in my opinion the best movie of all time. the movie soundtrack is great, with clasic excerpts with all the terrifc songs.A must for all fans.

I was just so happy to finally find a CD that has "As Time Goes By"

I hate writing 3 star reviews, because honestly, the gray area in between 2 and 4 stars is tedious and dull.

I probably have close to 3000 complete albums on my Hard Drive and have vigorously collected soundtracks since before it was cool to do so.

Curious to find out more about the piano pieces that were played by Elliot Carpenter, who played for Dooley Wilson, I purchased this CD hoping to have all my questions answered and hear full versions of some of the background music.

"What's that you're playing?"

"Oh, just a little something of my own ..."

"Stop it, you know what I want to hear."

Well, such was not the case in this instance. This is merely a straight dialogue transfer to disc that's broken into chapters for searching, but playable without breaks if left alone. There are a few songs tacked on at the end which weren't used during the film and considered alternate takes, if you will.

I will say, if you give it a chance, it can be quite interesting to listen to and the liner notes included are a special bonus. The only problem is that this is not something that could be listened to over and over, unlike the quality of the film which I've watched every Sunday for the last decade without fail.

Hoping to have heard more of the score and other pieces, this is a nice edition to my collection, but sadly, not what most of us are looking for.

OK...it's my fault for not reading the reviews before I ordered it. BUT what I expected was Steiner's score. It's there alright, but often obscured by dialog. Love the movie and the screenplay, but what always stays in the memory is the music. So, friends, if you want to hear that great cast in some of the great scenes, by all means play the DVD. For those of us who just want the great Max, there are other CDs. I'll be ordering them today.

CASABLANCA, one of the twentieth century's great films, is memorialized here not so much by stirring film music as by the fact that you get the exquisite screenplay banter that still evokes grins at its genius on, say, the forty-second hearing.

I assume that technology did now allow the separation of Max Steiner's score from the spoken witticisms that begin at the beginning and don't end until the end of this fantastic movie. As a result, this 'soundtrack' is actually a trip through some of Casablanca's finest moments, spoken and played.

It is produced and presented here with an entertaining and informative 'thick liner' that frames both the movie and its soundrack.

Who's unhappy?, as Sam memorably asked in song. Not the owners of this motion picture soundtrack, that's for sure.

Good selection of instrumental themes, as the title says, "hard to find" in some other releases like the original Nadia`s theme.
I recommend this album as a soft listening for special situations.

All beautiful forgotten (not by me) songs with three magnificent gems: 1.Beautiful obsession (nick name;Sir Chauncey) 2.The dark at the top of the stairs (Percy Faith) 3.Moonglow (George Cates).
Wonderful sound, great remastering job by Eric Records (not a surprise) sounds better than songs recorded 2 decades later.
80% true full STEREO, the heart&soul of this CD are songs that go from 1956 to 1964 and they sound like if they were born yesterday.
If music is part of your life also this CD is.
Ciao,
Franco

Back in 2002, one thing I shared with many other completist collectors of hit singles from the 1950s and 1960s was ever seeing a CD version of the George Cates version of Moonglow And The Theme From "Picnic."

I wrote to Bill Buster of Eric Records about that [and several others in the "impossible-to-find" category] sometime later that year, and within a few weeks he called me and we had a nice conversation about the frustrations of those of us trying to find CD versions of some long-lost hits.

Now whether or not that conversation had anything to do with this Volume appearing on the market I can't say - but I was so happy to see, not only the Cates version of that song, but Raymond Lefevre's The Day The Rains Came, and Nelson Riddle's hit "Route 66" Theme in its original format. Thank you Bill Buster and keep them coming please.

All the other selections in this compilation are appreciated as well, from those that charted [performances are shown on the reverse], to the non-hits [tracks 8, 11, 19, and 20] which, when you hear them, will leave you wondering WHY they were not hits themselves. Especially Franck Pourcel's rendition of Chariot (I Will Follow Him}, the vocal version of which was, of course, a huge hit for Peggy March in 1963.

Normally, the best such compilations around come from Ace Records of London, but this Hard-to-Find series produced by Bill Buster stands right up there with them. Not only for the music, but for the great liner notes in each set as well, in this instance six pages written by one of the best around, Joseph E. Laredo. And, as usual, the sound quality is excellent.

For the record, seven of the 20 selections [tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, 13, and 17] were originally Top 40 hits, another six [tracks 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, and 18] made the Top 100, and tracks 4, 10, and 16 were all on the "bubble under" Billboard charts. A bit of interest was in finding that Sir Chauncey & his exciting strings [track 6] was, in reality, Ernie Freeman of Raunchy fame.

The version of "Nadia's Theme" (Theme from The Young and the Restless) isn't actually the one you're expecting. I believe it's actually the original arrangement made for "Bless the Beasts and the Children". So what later became the Young and the Restless theme (the one that was a hit) still remains unreleased on CD.

Hopefully, we can see that version on a future release. Maybe they could get "Little Ballerina Blue" on one while they're at it.

Still, some great stuff here.

El tema de nadia es una de las canciones mas excelentes de la historia de la musica

The music was great. It sends you back to images you remember from the movie, and helps you relive each moment of this vibrant film.

The music is beautiful just like the title song. I am so glad that you had it. Western fans should watch the movie The Searchers again to recall what a wonderful classic it is.

The best western ever made is how many regard this much vaunted 1956 John Ford classic. Its star, John Wayne gave his most winning performance and it is reputed to have been his favourite movie even to the extent of his naming his last born son - Ethan - after the character he played. Ford's beloved Monument Valley never looked more spectacular in Vista Vision and colour and over the years the picture has gained cult status.
An integral part of the combined artistic elements that makes "The Searchers" great is the outstanding score by Max Steiner! This album of the original Soundtrack, coming to us fifty years after the film, is a splendid documentation of Steiner's visionary musical endeavours. His music propels the movie forward, unifying the narrative and giving greater density to its key scenes. In fact, without his music much of the impact that makes "The Searchers" great would be considerably diminished.
A veritable orchestral explosion opens the score in the form of a fanfare
over the Warner logo. As the credits roll we hear the haunting Stan Jones ballad "Song Of The Searchers" wonderfully rendered by Ford favourites The Sons Of The Pioneers. Steiner later adapts this song as the motif for the racist protagonist (Wayne). The music for Ford's famous 'frame within a frame' opening scene - as the door of a remote homestead opens to reveal an approaching rider - is a lovely orchestral version - scored for guitar and strings - of the traditional ballad 'Lorena' which skillfully
segues into 'Bonnie Blue Flag' to point up the rider's confederate
allegiance.The 'Lorena' ballad becomes the family theme and is played exquisitely in the cues 'Locket For Debbie' (solo Violin) and 'Goodbye Ethan' (Spinet).
But where the score really shines is in the powerful and dynamic music for the Indian sequences. Here there is a palpable authenticity in the scoring. Aided by
the splendid Murrey Cutter orchestrations and some virtuoso playing by the Warner Brothers' Orchestra (particularly in the percussion section)Steiner fires on all cylinders adding realism, pathos and a sense of foreboding. There are echoes of the composer's "King Kong" in the cue 'Indians Surround The Posse' and the music is rhythmically savage in 'Attack On The Indian Village' and The Charge at the River called here 'Indians'. The composer's celebrated 'Indian Idyll' which he originally wrote five years earlier for the Burt Lancaster movie
"Jim Thorpe-All American" comes into play here in the cues 'News Of Debbie' and 'Camp By The Lake'. Listening to this piece makes one wonder how remarkable it is that this most romantic of film composers - steeped in the musical tradition of late 19th Century Vienna, his birthplace - should be so ethnically proficient at musically depicting the native American?
More akin to what we have come to expect from this composer are lovely tracks such as the sprightly 'Martin', the lush and sweeping 'Laurie And Martin' and the reflective 'Ethan's Pledge' untitled on the album but contained in the cue 'Brad Dies'.

The score - and the movie - ends just like it began with "The Song Of The Searchers" playing as the door closes finally on Ethan and a brief fortissimo quotation from that explosive opening fanfare closes the picture.
A great album of a great score nicely packaged and with a good shot from the movie of the Duke on the cover. Sound isn't bad despite its acetate origins. Not only every Steiner fan but everyone who loves "The Searchers" will want to own this disc!
Max Steiner's creation for "The Searchers" stands head high beside the best of Rozsa, Newman, Korngold and Herrmann as one of the great musical works of the 20th Century!

Tracks 9 (Pirates) & 10 (Earring) on disk 4 are indeed reversed. I hope that Amazon will take a look to fix this.

I bought this as a gift for my husband. He wasn't expecting this; usually he gives me a list and I choose from it. I saw this while looking for one of his other selections and thought he'd like it. I figured, even if he doesn't, I will. We both love it! Great for listening on long drives up the turnpike!

Over the past thirty years, my father and I have been collecting film music on various formats--vinyl, tape, reel-to-reel, CD, recording it from the movie, even. This collection is a great starter for someone who wants to start owning movie music. Lots of big hitters, including Hermann, Barry, Conti, Mancini, and Goldsmith as well as some contemporary scores that are great, too. This is the type of collection I would make for a friend who asks "what scores should I start with?"

This is film music for the classical music lover. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra presents excellent arrangements of a number of classic film themes (although several pieces of the 56 film classics selected for this 4 CD set are not orchestral arrangements, but rather specialty arrangements). Besides great film composers such as John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, Ennio Morricone, and James Horner, classical composers such as Richard Strauss and Pietro Mascagni make an appearance. On several of the numbers the Crouch End Festival Chorus adds the human voice to the power of the full symphonic orchestra to create true movie magic. If you like the sound of a full symphony orchestra playing some of the most recognized themes ever written, you'll love these CDs.

Silva Screen Records, based in England, has been issuing some fine collections of film scores, more in one box than we have the right to expect. This four-CD box contains scores by many of the best writers, including Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tomkin, Kenneth J. Alford (The Bridge on the River Kwai), Elmer Bernstein, Maurice Jarre, Ennio Marricone, John Barry, Nino Rota, John Williams, James Horner, and more. We can all think of additional film scores we wished were included, but then there's no way this collection could be all-inclusive. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, supplemented by Crouch End Festival Chorus on some numbers, does a very competent job...The liner notes give the basic information without any commentary, and as far as I can see, contain only one error. Am I wrong or are tracks 9 and 10 on the fourth CD mislabeled? Track 9, which runs 7:33, seems to have the excitement of "Pirates of the Caribbean" (which I did not see) and track 10, which runs 4:22, the more sedate "The Girl with the Pearl Earring (which I also did not see). Listings seem to have them reversed.

This is classical Andre Rieu --- If you love the other Andre Rieu items you will enjoy Wonderland. His classical adaptations are excellent and he is an extremely musician. If you get a chance to go to a concert do it, but if that's not an option obtaining this item will given you the concert experience.

The CD of Andre Rieu in Wonderland and the Vienna I love are both excellent music. I love the selections on each one of them and they help me to release a LOT of stress. Thank you for making them available.

I cannot review the product which I know is great , as I was billed for it, but never received it.

With the success of Cinema Serenade, conductor John Williams and violinist Itzhak Perlman reunited to record another collection of classic movie themes. Performed this time by the Boston Pops Orchestra, the music of Cinema Serenade 2: The Golden Age harkens back to the days of stars such as Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, Ray Milland and Clark Gable.

The 12 selections include themes by Hollywood legends Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa and Erich Wolfgang Korngold (whose son George would later produce several of composer/conductor Williams' scores for Varese Sarabande Records). Cinema Serenade 2 presents beautiful arrangements of Steiner's themes for Now, Voyager and Gone With The Wind, Korngold's love theme from The Adventures of Robin Hood, Charlie Chaplin's lovely Modern Times and "St Patrick's Day," a traditional Irish song from the John Wayne classic The Quiet Man.

Since I consider myself to be a charter member of The Rick Blaine Society of Rank Sentimentalists, I'd have to say my favorite tracks on this album are Herman Hupfeld's timeless "As Time Goes By" from 1942's Casablanca and Victor Young's "My Foolish Heart" (from the 1949 film of the same title). It was while I was listening to the radio (on the late WTMI 93.1 FM classical station) that the DJ played "As Time Goes By" and I discovered this recording of mostly lyrical themes; I listened to Perlman's haunting violin solos and the Boston Pops' bravura performance and nearly wept. I, of course, bought this CD the next day and it's now one of my favorites.

For fans of Itzhak Perlman, John Williams or film music in general, both of the Cinema Serenade CDs are a treasure trove of beautiful and memory-stirring themes.

This is one of the most beautiful CDs I've ever heard. The selections are musically much richer than Cinema Serenade I. In particular, Sir William Walton's music from Henry V, Korngold's music from Robin Hood, and Newman's music from Wuthering Heights are standouts. The Korngold is my favorite, with several themes from the picture packed into a short love scene lifted straight from the movie. The arrangements on this album are stunningly lush, especially those by Williams. His opening chords from The Uninvited are terrific harmonically.

Itzhak Perlman is still considered by me the best violinist alive today. His techiniques are so impressable and heartouching and nobody can contest that. The idea of this CD was wonderful, although the selections of the musics aren't so good than in Cinema Serenade 1. But anyway, if you want to listen musics that worldwide the people emotioned with, buy this CD, but don't fall in the temptation to compare it to the first one.

All of those lush movie themes are greatly compiled on this CD. I especially liked Laura and Stella by Starlight. After listening to this, you will want to go out and buy/rent these great old movies!