Kunzel

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I just busted out Star Tracks and I'll be following up with Star Tracks II.

These, in my opinion, are a rare exception when it comes to recordings of Williams' music by other conductors. Most of them stink, quite frankly. They never achieve that signature Williams sound that we all know and can't even explain. Most of them just butcher his music.

Yet, many of Kunzel's recordings are just as good, if not better, than Williams' originals. Just listen to the end credits from SpaceCamp on Star tracks II. I actually think it sounds better than the original and somehow more Williams than Williams himself's.

[Jay 37,359]

Love the old Kunzel CDs from the 90s. The Great Fantasy Adventure Album was one of my first film score purchases

[Stempel 136]

Kunzel's recordings of "The Olympic Fanfare And Theme" and "Liberty Fanfare" are fantastic!

Much better than the Originals or Boston Pops Recordings.

[Jay 37,359]

Kunzel's recording of Olympic Fanfare and Theme is my favorite version of that piece. Also it's the first performance of it I heard.

[Thor 7,503]

Love the old Kunzel CDs from the 90s. The Great Fantasy Adventure Album was one of my first film score purchases

Same here. Don't own it anymore, though.

[TownerFan 4,983]

Kunzel was dear good friend with JW. They have been probably the most popular 'pops' conductors during the 1980s and both of them appeared a number of times as guest conductors in the respective orchestras (Boston and Cincinnati).

I seem to remember an interview with JW where he told that sometimes he prepared some of his concert arrangements from film scores with Kunzel's orchestra specifically in mind.

[Bespin 8,481]

Here are some essentials "Kunzel"!

• 1984 Star Tracks, Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
• 1984 Time Warp, Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
• 1987 Hollywood’s Greatest Hits, Vol. I, Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
• 1987 Star Tracks II, Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
• 1994 The Great Fantasy Adventure Album, Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.
• 2006 Great Film Fantasies, Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra.

[Thor 7,503]

I thought the SYMPHONIC STAR TREK album was pretty good, and I'm no Trekkie.

The only downside were the stupid sound effects they added.

[Bespin 8,481]

I thought the SYMPHONIC STAR TREK album was pretty good, and I'm no Trekkie.

The only downside were the stupid sound effects they added.

True, I always remove the sound effects tracks when I encode a Kunzel album!

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

Kunzel was dear good friend with JW. They have been probably the most popular 'pops' conductors during the 1980s and both of them appeared a number of times as guest conductors in the respective orchestras (Boston and Cincinnati).

I seem to remember an interview with JW where he told that sometimes he prepared some of his concert arrangements from film scores with Kunzel's orchestra specifically in mind.

I was under the impression Williams never conducted the Cincinnati Pops until recently...

On the other hand, Kunzel was already a regular guest in Boston, during the later years of Fiedler's tenure, and was one of the names considered for succeeding him in late 1979.

Kunzel said on a FSM interview that he and Williams were good friends, and that he would ask him for his music directly whenever he wanted to perform it. I wonder why he had to commission some odd arrangements of Williams music in later years. I think that in the same interview he mentioned that Williams arranged "Soundings" specifically to fit the orchestra and hall in Cincinnati.

As for the recordings, I like them up untill the early 90's. From there on they are too over the top for my taste.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Telarc.

[mstrox 6,651]

I really like the recordings from Kunzel/Pops, warts (sound effects) and all. The recording quality/sound was always great; and the performances almost always. There are a few arrangements I don't care for (possibly because I'm too close to the particular scores) - those being Elfman's Batman, which does some alterations to the main titles and the finale that don't really work for me, and Shore's Fellowship of the Ring which has a weird "march" arrangement of the Fellowship theme at the end that seems a little out of tune with Shore's score.

[TownerFan 4,983]

Kunzel was dear good friend with JW. They have been probably the most popular 'pops' conductors during the 1980s and both of them appeared a number of times as guest conductors in the respective orchestras (Boston and Cincinnati).

I seem to remember an interview with JW where he told that sometimes he prepared some of his concert arrangements from film scores with Kunzel's orchestra specifically in mind.

I was under the impression Williams never conducted the Cincinnati Pops until recently...

Oh, it's probably me remembering wrong, Miguel. I'm not as good as you when it comes to JW!

My mind is not working properly at this very moment, sorry. Jetlag and other stuff.

[crocodile 8,012]

Aren't all those recordings apocryphal arrangements done by someone else?

Karol

[Miguel Andrade 1,263]

For many years, and as far as Williams music is concerned, Kunzel used the real thing. Then, in the early 90's, he started commissioning arrangements, some of them I find far from good. Some of his later Williams recordings, like "Hymn to the Fallen" and "Sean's Theme" from "Minority Report" were arrangements, and made gentle pieces sound way to over the top.

Actually, that is my overall problem with his recordings (or at least the ones I own) from the early 90's on -- to noisy (and I'm not even complaining about the irritating sound effects).

[DreamTheater 131]

The last couple of months I've been increasing the amount of Kunzel & CPO CD's in my collection, and I'm happy to be doing that because there are so many treasures out there. I already have about 20 and I absolutely adore the majority of them. The superb quality of the recordings (love that low frequency thump of the percussion) and Kunzel's knack for sometimes putting his own spin on known themes are never less than intruiging to hear. I don't have a problem with the sound effects: it's a nice test of my sound system on which I listen to CD's (which isn't top of the line either, far from it, but does the job very nicely for music). I haven't damaged my speakers while putting these up, luckily.

It started with Rozsa's Three Choral Suites and steadily I've been adding more to my collection. I'm totally into quality compilations. And the man has done so many I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot still.

These are the ones I currently own:

Beautiful Hollywood

The Big Picture

Bond and Beyond

Chiller

Epics

Fantastic Journey

The Great Fantasy Adventure Album

Great Film Fantasies

Hollywood's Greatest Hits Volume I

Hollywood's Greatest Hits Volume II

Masters and Commanders

Mega Movies

Round-Up

Star Tracks

Star Tracks II

Three Choral Suites by Miklos Rozsa

Time Warp

Two more on the way : The Great Movie Scores From the Films of Steven Spielberg + Pomp & Pizazz.

And oh yes Spacecamp on the Star Tracks II album is indeed the best version ever.

That brings me to a little story: in school in the 80s (I must've been 12 or 13) someone had made an audio tape of Star Tracks II but without me knowing what it was called and without a track list. It was the first time I listened to music outside of a film, I had heard in films such as Star Trek and Star Wars, Cocoon and others. For years I had that tape and cemented my love for film scores that would soon explode after that. Over the years I had worn out the tape and somehow lost it, however the music and its wonderful renditions had always stuck in my mind, I never forgot about its magical attraction. 20 years or so later, when I was already deep into John Williams, James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith and many others I found out on a forum (not jwfan) that that album that I had lost and desperately wanted to own was called Star Tracks II, conducted by this man Erich Kunzel. I downloaded it, confirmed that it was my long lost love of sweet film music, and since then I've been buying and appreciating Kunzel, basically the entire list above.

[mahler3 478]

For many years, and as far as Williams music is concerned, Kunzel used the real thing. Then, in the early 90's, he started commissioning arrangements, some of them I find far from good. Some of his later Williams recordings, like "Hymn to the Fallen" and "Sean's Theme" from "Minority Report" were arrangements, and made gentle pieces sound way to over the top.

Actually, that is my overall problem with his recordings (or at least the ones I own) from the early 90's on -- to noisy (and I'm not even complaining about the irritating sound effects).

I agree totally. Exhibit A is Empire of the Sun on the Spielberg Scores album. The last few bars are far too bombastic. The Sugarland Express arrangement is great though.

The Great Fantasy Adventure Album isn't a favourite either. Hook is a messy arrangement and Jurassic Park has too much gong (not enough cowbell!) at the T-Rex Finale tag moment. The album is too low-end as a whole, I used to have to adjust the treble when I listened to it.

The 80's albums are superb though. ET, Last Starfighter (a much quicker tempo) and I always enjoyed the Star Wars performances more than The Boston Pops ones.

[Jay 37,359]

Cool story DreamTheater, glad you finally found out what that old tape was and got a hold of it

[King Mark 3,631]

Throne Room re-recording is great (Time Warp)

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Admittedly, the last Kunzel album I bought did leave a bad taste in my mouth. It was the one with selections from all six Star Wars scores and Harry Potter. It wasn't bad by any means, but it was uncharacteristically unremarkable. I'd come to expect better from the guy. Then he died.

Regardless, his recordings remain some of the very best I've ever heard. Star Tracks and Star Tracks II are legendary.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

And Time Warp.

[Uni 306]

I owned Time Warp and Fantastic Journey on cassette in the 80s (the latter of which has become very difficult to find). I loved them, and--as others have mentioned--in some cases considered their arrangements improvements on the originals (though I felt a vague sense of blasphemy in the thought). The end title suite from Goldsmith's Twilight Zone in particular was so much clearer, separating out the melodic lines in a way that every part of the writing could be distinguished in a way that was a bit muddled in the original. It was also where I first heard the music for The Boy Who Could Fly, which became a favorite.

[DreamTheater 131]

Cool story DreamTheater, glad you finally found out what that old tape was and got a hole of it

Yes not having it left a 'hole' in my music collection.

Throne Room re-recording is great (Time Warp)

It's fantastic ! So are Battlestar Galactica and the stuff from 2001.

Admittedly, the last Kunzel album I bought did leave a bad taste in my mouth. It was the one with selections from all six Star Wars scores and Harry Potter. It wasn't bad by any means, but it was uncharacteristically unremarkable. I'd come to expect better from the guy. Then he died.

I've only heard it a couple of times, but it left a good impression on me. I remember the Harry Potter and LOTR selections were great.

[Uni 306]

It's fantastic ! So are Battlestar Galactica and the stuff from 2001.

Kunzel's BG performance on Time Warp was far and away the best recording of the theme until the Intrada release.

[Bespin 8,481]

Personnaly I don't like the Star Wars Theme on "Star Tracks", firstly it's merged with an horrible synthetizer sound, and then in the begining we can hear a maybe too enthusiast trumpeter (at right in the stereo space)... who doesn't seems to care playing together with all his friends. Well, It breaks all the melody.

This maybe the only deception on the album.

And this is a thing we can give to john Williams when he directs... he keeps all the sections (winds, brass, etc.) coherent together.

[DreamTheater 131]

Just received in the mail: The Great Movie Scores From the Films of Steven Spielberg (1974 - 1998).

Will get regular plays for sure !

[Bespin 8,481]

This one is great for "Battle of The Heroes" from ROTS.

 

To my knowledge there is not many re-recordings of the music from the SW prequels.

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Phantom Menace has its share of rerecordings, the other two less so.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

That album's just alright, Battle of the Heroes being a highlight. Overall, certainly not one of Kunzel's strongest efforts. We need a version of Battle of the Heroes without chorus.

There is one other re-recording of Battle of the Heroes I know of, by the City of Prague played at decreased tempo. It's like atrocious, yet kinda cool at the same time? Eh, just don't even bother with it.

[Thor 7,503]

Are these albums still going on, by the way? I faded out in the 90s. I'm guessing that after Kunzel's death, there wasn't the initiative anymore?

Oh, and is there any place that has a complete discography of the Kunzel/CSO/Telarc albums?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

The lack incentive to re-record scores and suites of the day like Kunzel and Gerhardt did couldn't possibly be because most popular scores of the last decade have been bland, dull, interchangeable factory produced rubbish.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Gerhardt and Kunzel recorded that stuff in the heyday of Williams, Goldsmith, Barry, Horner etc. big symphonic scores of the second half of the 20th Century. But...

That time has passed.

As have many of the composers, conductors and basically that style of film scoring. These are dark times, there is no denying.

[Stempel 136]

Are these albums still going on, by the way? I faded out in the 90s. I'm guessing that after Kunzel's death, there wasn't the initiative anymore?

This is the newest Cincinnati Pops Album:

It is from last year and it is a great Album.

I hope they continue to record those types of Albums.

[DreamTheater 131]

Are these albums still going on, by the way? I faded out in the 90s. I'm guessing that after Kunzel's death, there wasn't the initiative anymore?

Oh, and is there any place that has a complete discography of the Kunzel/CSO/Telarc albums?

http://www.erichkunzel.com/main-discography.htm

And, hiya !

How's Mulan ?

[Thor 7,503]

Thanks for the discography link, DT!

Still lovin' MULAN, and as your brother might have told you already -- "I'll Make a Man Out of You" has become my new karaoke favourite.

[DreamTheater 131]

That's also my number 1 song from the bunch.