E.W.Korngold Web site

This thread over at FSM has some interesting comments from the producer of this recording.

Though it might be of interest.

TJ

This project (with which I was involved peripherally) was a very brave undertaking by dear Tony Thomas, and by Carl Davis who is also a dear friend of mine. As I recall now (from the many transatlantic phone calls to me during the sessions) there were huge problems with the parts (most of the Irish battle was missing for example!) and so reconstruction took place during the actual sessions, with Mr Davis working through the night -using a video of the movie as a reference! I had many late night conversations with him about the instrumentation and he was 100% dedicated to making it as complete and authentic as possible. Ernst Korngold (who was alive then) particularly appreciated his conducting and told me how closely it resembled his father's!

Unlike the Morgan/Stromberg series, there was very little pre-recording preparation and it was a nightmare to do on a very small budget. In view of this, I think it turned out exceptionally well. Carl tried to reflect Korngold's tempi at all times and before each session would run the film sequences that were to be recorded on a TV monitor. If only he had been able to have a copy of the original optical tracks (that exist and are now on Tsunami, Membran and other labels).

As for the recording quality, I recall money was short so maybe the microphone set-up reflected that.

Anyway, I cannot post at the FSM Board as I am not a subscriber but anyone who is - feel free to cut & paste my comments to that thread.

And be glad that Mr Davis and Tony T made the effort so that we can at least hear the full score!