The music from Hangover Square on this disc includes also a performing edition, by Norma Shepherd, of the piano concerto which features in the film. Here it’s played persuasively by the very versatile Martin Roscoe.
Citizen Kane makes up the largest part of this disc, containing forty nine minutes of music including Salammbo’s Aria, convincingly sung by Irish born soprano Orla Boylan.
Rumon Gamba conducts the BBC Philharmonic in all the pieces on this disc, obtaining wonderfully committed sounds from orchestra and soloists.
It is stunningly recorded, and has a very wide frequency and dynamic range. Buyers of this disc would do well to turn the volume down to start with in order to find a satisfactory listening level.
Included with the disc is a nicely illustrated booklet containing brief background notes on both the featured films as well as a biography of Herrmann. It also includes a useful translation of the lyrics of Salammbo’s Aria.
Hopefully Chandos will record more of Herrmann’s classic film scores. Highly recommended.
