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The Music
For those of you who has never heard of Jerry Goldsmith, I
can almost guarantee that you've heard his work. He's the composer of
such film scores as "Along Came A Spider", "Hollow
Man", "The Mummy", "The
Haunting", "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Air
Force One", "Basic Instinct", "The Boys from Brazil",
"Poltergeist", "The Twilight Zone: The Movie", and
"Planet of the Apes" (1967). His credits also includes TV theme songs such as "The Waltons" and "Barnaby
Jones". So unless you've been in isolation since the 1960's, you
would have heard some of Jerry Goldsmith's compositions.
In this album, we are treated to a selection of Jerry
Goldsmith's scoring masterpieces. See the track
listing in the left column. The scores in this album were arranged
for full orchestra and conducted by the master himself with the world-renowned
London
Symphony Orchestra performing in the famous Abbey Road Studios in London,
England in January 2000. It's a magnificent ensemble of film scores
and TV theme songs. Jerry Goldsmith describes his work as emotionally
driven. He uses his music to make his comments on the characters in
the film, and he doesn't "intellectualize" about the role of music
in films. However he does it, it's clear that his film scores breathe
a dimension of emotion of that many of us can feel when we're watching the film. It's also clear that Jerry Goldsmith is a very
talented and gifted composer, certainly one of the greatest of our generation.
Which tracks are my favorites? I
would have to say unequivocally, "all of them". I enjoyed
each and every track, and all of the individual film scores in the medleys
of tracks #2 and #6. But my very favorites would have to be: the
"Motion Picture Medley", "The Boys from Brazil",
"Medley of Television Themes", "Theme
from Rudy", and the "Love Theme from Forever
Young". It is with great pleasure for me to recommend this album
to fellow fans of film scores, TV theme songs, and orchestral works.
This album is truly an "epic". With all sincerity, I hope that
Jerry Goldsmith and
Telarc will record another album of his wonderful film scores in the very near future.
After listening to this wonderful album, I could only ask for
"more".
The Recording
Telarc employed their tried-and-true recording
philosophy of minimal miking for a
realistic sound, recording the music directly onto the Sony DSD Sonoma and
Philips/Augan DSD multi-channel hard disk and optical recorders. Both
stereo and multi-channel DSD recordings were made. These DSD
(Direct
Stream Digital) recordings are then edited at Skywalker Sound
in California using the Sony Sonoma DSD multi-channel editor. My point
is that the entire recording, editing, and production chain is natively in
DSD for the best quality SACD recording possible.
Admittedly, this is one of the first SACD titles that
introduced me to this revolutionary technology. I first listened to
this hybrid SACD on my reference CD player, the Sony DVP-S7700. The
hybrid CD layer recording sounds amazingly good in stereo. But
listening to the multi-channel DSD track on my reference playback
system turned this recording into a magical experience. The
attributes that audiophiles have been raving about SACD came apparent almost
immediately: the extra wide dynamic range, the nuances in the instrumental
sounds, the sonic transparency, and the well-defined and expansive soundstage. It's
wonderful! And it's addicting. I find myself working more and
more in the sweet spot of my multi-channel audio system using a laptop,
instead of working in my office using the desktop computer. (Not that
I would call listening to some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard
"work".)
Though there are separate stereo and multi-channel
(5.0-channel)
DSD tracks, my review is principally based on the multi-channel DSD recording as it
is an overwhelmingly compelling and immersive experience. Think of it
as "virtual reality" for sound. I felt as though I was
there, in the studio listening to the orchestra playing. The orchestral sounds came across beautifully and
so transparently, from the percussion overtures, to the graceful and
peaceful tunes of
the flutes, to the glistening violins, to the tickling notes of the grand
piano. In track #2, the melodies of the flutes, clarinets, and
horns came through full and rich with texture. The opening percussion notes of track
#6 demonstrates the
immersive effect of multi-channel music. Later in track #6 (approx
3:20-3:55), the
passage is soft with percussion notes bouncing back and forth between the
front soundstage and the left surround channel. In track #7, the flute
came across transparently with its surreal and angelic melody. I
could go on and on...
As though it's not clear to you by now, I think Telarc did an
excellent job engineering this all-original multi-channel DSD recording for
this SACD release. I highly recommend this SACD.
Disc Compatibility Notice
This Super
Audio CD (SACD) features a hybrid construction, with a layer for full audio CD compatibility and a layer for
high-resolution stereo DSD and multi-channel DSD recordings. The audio
CD layer can be played back on any audio CD player or CD-ROM drive, and will
have the sound quality like any other audio CD. To
hear the high-resolution stereo DSD recording, a stereo or multi-channel
SACD player is required with stereo analog output to a quality 2-channel
audio system. To hear the high-resolution multi-channel DSD recording,
a multi-channel capable SACD player is required with 5.1-channel (6-channel)
analog output to a multi-channel home theater audio/video receiver. The
high-resolution stereo or multi-channel DSD recording layer on this disc will not play in
an audio CD player, DVD-Video player, DVD-Audio player, or DVD-ROM drive.
Buy this SACD title from:
> Telarc for
$19.99
> Amazon.com
for $20.98
Support this site: buy through our links.
For additional information: visit the Telarc web
site.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony ES
SCD-C555ES Super Audio CD 5-disc
player, Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
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