ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
World premiere recordings of film music by Miklos Rozsa, unofficially becoming a “Volume 4” of his famed Polydor recordings from the seventies, highlighted by lengthy suite from The Man In Half Moon Street, a moody – and rare – 1945 horror/supernatural/film noir meld directed by Ralph Murphy, starring Nils Asther. Rozsa surrounds his music with dark, mysterious and dangerous ideas rooted in his signature film noir vernacular of the era. CD also offers premiere recording of the “Overture” to Valley Of The Kings (1954), Rozsa’s own special arrangement with a newly composed coda, actually intended for fourth Polydor recording that never came to be. Sinewy lines, colorful harmonies and swirling figures abound. Also featured is premiere recording of rare 1942 documentary score Jacare aka “Killer Of The Amazon”, directed by Charles Ford and filmed in Brazil. Picture chronicles travels of two men up the Amazon in search of rare animals for zoos. Rozsa offers rich, colorful music in style of his more familiar score for Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book from that same year. Generous suite from Strange Love Of Martha Ivers finds Rozsa scoring both in darkly gothic manner and richly expressive melodic mode for this classic Lewis Milestone film noir from 1946, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin and “introducing” Kirk Douglas. Rounding out CD is premiere recording of seven-minute suite from Zoltan Korda 1943 war filmSahara with Humphrey Bogart. Dynamic, previously unrecorded sequence includes not only prelude to score but powerful finale as well, bringing CD of rarities to resounding finish! Allan Wilson conducts Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Latest release in Intrada “Excalibur Collection” of great film music!
In the 1970s, music from some of Rózsa’s older films were granted new life—by Charles Gerhardt (in his legendary RCA “Classic Film Scores” series) and by three albums of suites recorded for Polydor Records with the composer conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This new Intrada Excalibur CD extends that legacy by offering premiere recordings of music from two films which are virtually unknown today (Jacaré and The Man in Half Moon Street), the first modern recording of music from The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, a suite from Rózsa’s early WWII drama Sahara and a composer-created suite from Valley of the Kings (commissioned by Intrada producer Douglass Fake) which would have been included on a fourth Polydor collection if plans for it had ever materialized.
Allan Wilson conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a faithful, spirited concert of some of Rozsa’s finest work produced by Kevin Kaska and executive producer Paul Talkington. A generous 20+ minute suite the obscure noir film The Man in Half Moon Street headlines.
TRACKLIST
VALLEY OF THE KINGS (1954)
1. Overture 4:53
THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (1945)
2. Prelude and Ghostly Prologue 3:25
3. Laboratory 4:20
4. Transition I and Body Is Found 2:49
5. Waltz 2:18
6. Love Theme (Piano Improvisation: Mike Lang) 3:00
7. Transformation 3:16
8. Finale 2:12
JACARÉ (1942)
9. Prelude 3:01
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946)
10. Prelude / Love Part 1 / Love Part 2 10:41
SAHARA (1943)
11. Suite 7:18
