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Maurice Jarre recordings


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Which Maurice Jarre collection is better:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Maurice-Jarre-Film-Collection/dp/B00004NRRB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299434657&sr=1-1

or:

http://www.amazon.com/Film-Music-Maurice-Jarre/dp/B000RXYU2Y/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

Both are by Prague Philharmonic, but are they different recordngs?

Is there any other better collection? I like crisp sound quality and flawless performances, not necessarily the original recordings (in case of JW, I do)

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From a cursory glance at both of them, I would say that the 2-disc set offers a better introduction to one of the greatest composers who ever lived. True, the sets differ slightly in places, but for me, the inclusion of performances by Mark Ayers from masterpieces such as "Witness", "The Mosquito Coast", and the criminally underrated "The Year Of Living Dangerously" swings it. Just remember this golden rule, my friend:

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER LISTEN TO AN ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE OF "BUILDING THE BARN"!!!

Happy listening, and let us know how you get on.

"You've taken your first step into a larger world".

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From a cursory glance at both of them, I would say that the 2-disc set offers a better introduction to one of the greatest composers who ever lived. True, the sets differ slightly in places, but for me, the inclusion of performances by Mark Ayers from masterpieces such as "Witness", "The Mosquito Coast", and the criminally underrated "The Year Of Living Dangerously" swings it. Just remember this golden rule, my friend:

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER LISTEN TO AN ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE OF "BUILDING THE BARN"!!!

Happy listening, and let us know how you get on.

"You've taken your first step into a larger world".

Oh I knew Maurice Jarre already...and yes I think he's one of the greatest film composers ever (he's my no.6 actually :) ). The more and more I am listening to it I am beginning to think Lawrence of Arabia Ouvertue might be the best piece of film music ever written. But I don't have any albums of his...so just wante to have a good collection of his most memorable stuff.

I'll let you know how it is :)

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Just remember this golden rule, my friend:

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER LISTEN TO AN ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE OF "BUILDING THE BARN"!!!

I disagree. I think Christopher Palmer's orchestral arrangement of this piece makes it really wonderful and soaring, much more than those annoying synth pads that Jarre became obsessed with in the early/mid '80s.

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  • 10 years later...

Maurice Jarre... seems like another Pandora Box to open...

 

Let's see some of the usual suspects...

 

  • DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (AFI, Academy Award Winner)
  • LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (AFI, Academy Award Winner)
  • A PASSAGE TO INDIA (AFI, Academy Award Winner)
  • RYAN'S DAUGHTER (AFI)
  • Mohammad, Messenger of God (Academy Award Nominee)
  • Witness (Academy Award Nominee)
  • Gorillas in the Mist (Academy Award Nominee)
  • Ghost (Academy Award Nominee)
  • Fatal Attraction (Grammy Nominee)

 

Now, how his album "Maurice Jarre at Abbey Road" (1992) is regarded in all his discography?

 

Any experts in the room?

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I'm more an "expert" on his son Jean-Michel, of whom I am a completist. Maurice has always been hit/miss to me. But outside the big classics (the Lean stuff, the twelve pianos of IS PARIS BURNING? and all that), I have a soft spot for DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Also JACOB'S LADDER, which is one of the few times he succeeded with his synth experimentation in the 80s and 90s.

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22 minutes ago, Bespin said:

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (AFI, Academy Award Winner)

 

On 5/30/2021 at 9:56 PM, GerateWohl said:

Good idea. I found it. But it's in German. And it was actually a car accident. Haven't probably seen that for 40 years or so.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==

 

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Don't forget Mad Max 3. At the time I found the score supprisingly good.

But I was never really impressed by his synth scores. But in the 80s I was always at least a little dissapointed anyway when there appeared a new Harrison Ford movie and the score was not by John Williams.

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1 hour ago, GerateWohl said:

Don't forget Mad Max 3. At the time I found the score supprisingly good.

But I was never really impressed by his synth scores. But in the 80s I was always at least a little dissapointed anyway when there appeared a new Harrison Ford movie and the score was not by John Williams.

Agreed, Mad Max 3 is a pretty good score. It works great in the movie. 

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Maybe I would find the 60's and 70's recordings a bit dated, so is there any Jarre "re-recordings" who are musts?

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2 hours ago, Bespin said:

Maybe I would find the 60's and 70's recordings a bit dated, so is there any Jarre "re-recordings" who are musts?

 

YEAH!

 

This one most of all; it's amazing:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/lawrence-of-arabia/

 

Then this:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2016/07/is-paris-burning-maurice-jarre/

 

Then if you like both of those, this:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2011/06/villa-rides-the-western-film-music-of-maurice-jarre/

 

Tadlow also has some very good sounding releases of three Jarre scores from the original recordings:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome/

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/the-message-lion-of-the-desert/

 

Those are a great place to start but once you try them and like them let me know and I can go through great releases by other labels.

 

Yavar

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I watched the movie, many, many, many...

 

MANY years ago!

 

I'm not interested by the movie, but by his music!

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Yes, we know you're old!

 

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

 

YEAH!

 

This one most of all; it's amazing:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/lawrence-of-arabia/

 

Then this:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2016/07/is-paris-burning-maurice-jarre/

 

Then if you like both of those, this:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2011/06/villa-rides-the-western-film-music-of-maurice-jarre/

 

Tadlow also has some very good sounding releases of three Jarre scores from the original recordings:

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/mad-max-beyond-thunderdome/

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2010/11/the-message-lion-of-the-desert/

 

Those are a great place to start but once you try them and like them let me know and I can go through great releases by other labels.

 

Yavar

 

What do you think of Tadlow's compilation album NOTRE DAME DE PARIS?

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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

What do you think of Tadlow's compilation album NOTRE DAME DE PARIS?

 

It's really good but alas apparently out of print from them, which is why I didn't mention it! Nice overview of his whole career though, and the recordings are up to the usual high Tadlow standard. If it can be found second hand it's worth picking up too.

 

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Nothing beats the original recording, released by Varese in the early 90s.

 

I'm usually an original recordings guy, but the performance on the Tadlow is just as great if not better. The sound is a LOT better. And it's got the complete score, with so much more music than the old album of the film recording.

 

Plus, he specifically asked for modern recordings.


Yavar

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Have you heard the Tadlow recording? There is no comparison. The old album doesn't have terrible sound by any means (compare that with another classic score given a great sounding complete new recording by Tadlow: Exodus by Ernest Gold) but it's not even close, in this case. (And there are 60s recordings I think sound great.)


Yavar

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2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Nothing beats the original recording, released by Varese in the early 90s.

 

I never liked the original recording, but the Tadlow is great.

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Yeah, in fact I even felt it almost cheapened/worsened/overscored the movie here and there.

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35 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Have you heard the Tadlow recording?

 

Of course, I own the 2CD set. The first Tadlow I got, if I'm not mistaken. :)

 

20 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I never liked the original recording, but the Tadlow is great.

 

Did you listen to the Varese release?

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3 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Did you listen to the Varese release?

 

I don't recall which release of the OST I had before the Tadlow (it was a CDR copy from the library). But it never did much for me. The overture didn't click with me until I heard it performed live, and even then the OST recording didn't do it for me.

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2 hours ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Have you heard the Tadlow recording? There is no comparison. The old album doesn't have terrible sound by any means (compare that with another classic score given a great sounding complete new recording by Tadlow: Exodus by Ernest Gold) but it's not even close, in this case. (And there are 60s recordings I think sound great.)


Yavar

 

For the record, I don't expect a 60s film music recording to sound as good as a modern day recording, but I can still think it sounds good.

 

I reckon you also prefer their rerecording of The Blue Max over the original recording.

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12 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I reckon you also prefer their rerecording of The Blue Max over the original recording.

 

You reckon incorrectly. The Blue Max is the only Tadlow Goldsmith recording that disappointed me. The rhythms are a bit off in a few of the action cues, and it overall just doesn't have quite the same fresh energy as the original. It's not bad by any means but I really wish they'd spent the money to record some Goldsmith that was otherwise lost, too. That said it's a great score so I understand the desire to revisit; I'm just greedy to get stuff I don't already have in complete form (and sounding quite good, in the LLL restoration).

 

I almost exclusively listen to the original Blue Max recording as released by La-La Land. The stuff I listen to most on that Tadlow album are the disc 2 suites of Inchon and The Chairman. :) I'd have happily taken a complete new recording of either of those two scores...

 

Lawrence of Arabia is a different situation, because the original recording will always be incomplete (sessions are lost) and it frankly doesn't sound quite as good as The Blue Max (LLL edition).

 

Yavar

 

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14 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Lawrence of Arabia is a different situation, because the original recording will always be incomplete (sessions are lost) and it frankly doesn't sound quite as good as The Blue Max (LLL edition).

 

Wow, my impression of the sound quality of these two scores is completely opposite. When I listened to the samples of the most recent release of The Blue Max, I was disappointed with the sound. It still sounded like the elements used were copies of a copy of a copy... Not so with the Varese release of Lawrence. That album isn't complete (it's an expanded OST) but that's okay since we also have the Tadlow recording which is indeed good. 

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Maybe it’s all relative, but I always thought The Blue Max sounded relatively poor until I heard the LLL edition from some years ago, so maybe I had low expectations going in, which were exceeded.

 

Yavar

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I'll do a new listening session with both scores and see if my opinions still are the same.

 

Btw, @Yavar Moradi, I didn't end up purchasing the recent release of The Blue Max. Would you say that the samples are noticeably compressed, or are they representative of what I'd hear listening to the CD?

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1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I'll do a new listening session with both scores and see if my opinions still are the same.

 

Btw, @Yavar Moradi, I didn't end up purchasing the recent release of The Blue Max. Would you say that the samples are noticeably compressed, or are they representative of what I'd hear listening to the CD?


I haven’t purchased the version that came out this past December either. I’m happy with my 2015 LLL edition and I think they only tweaked it slightly when they paired it with Von Ryan’s Express.

 

Yavar

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Of Lawrence of Arabia I just own the Philharmonia Orchestra recording conducted by Tony Bremer. And I don't like the sound of that recording at all. I cannot recommend that. 

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I've now listened to both Varese's expanded OST of Lawrence and to LLL's The Blue Max (the samples on LLL's website). Both have clear sound issues, but to me the most annoying issues are on The Blue Max. However, I can understand that not everybody thinks that Lawrence sounds good enough. I find it strange that it hasn't received a new release  in 31 years. Surely, there has to be room for improvement with modern technology.

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I haven't listened to many of his scores, but I'm still a big fan of Jarre. A personal favourite is his 1999 score for István Szábo's Sunshine! Haven't seen the movie yet, but love the score.

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R-6207416-1492360429-8495.jpeg.jpg

 

I loved the album "Maurice Jarre at Abbey Road".

 

It was a nice opportunity for him to re-record his "hits" following the strange succes of his score for Ghost...

 

R-6207416-1492360519-1324.jpeg.jpg

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12 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I've now listened to both Varese's expanded OST of Lawrence and to LLL's The Blue Max (the samples on LLL's website). Both have clear sound issues, but to me the most annoying issues are on The Blue Max. However, I can understand that not everybody thinks that Lawrence sounds good enough. I find it strange that it hasn't received a new release  in 31 years. Surely, there has to be room for improvement with modern technology.

 

Define "clear sound issues"?

 

As far as I recall, my main issue with the Lawrence OST wasn't the sound quality but a lack of punch in the performance.

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5 hours ago, Once said:

I haven't listened to many of his scores, but I'm still a big fan of Jarre. A personal favourite is his 1999 score for István Szábo's Sunshine! Haven't seen the movie yet, but love the score.

I'm very fond of it too, for obvious reasons like all those Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt variations!

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7 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Define "clear sound issues"?

 

Obvious sound issues.

 

7 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

As far as I recall, my main issue with the Lawrence OST wasn't the sound quality but a lack of punch in the performance.

 

I'd say the performance definitely has punch, but the loudest parts aren't well served by the recording.

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I bought it so fast, that I even not realized the 2nd disc contains very interresting re-recordings from other movies.

 

image.png

 

It makes me realize that I have also rerecordings of John Barry and Jerry Goldsmith in this situation, were the 2nd disc contains many other works from various movies, Zulu and The Blue Max.

 

I love that!

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