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FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: 50th Anniversary Remastered Edition from La-La Land Records (3-CD)


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TRADITION!
Our 5th and final release of 2021...
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: 50th ANNIVERSARY REMASTERED
LIMITED EDITION (3-CD SET) LLLCD 1576
Music Adapted and Conducted by John Williams
Soloist: Isaac Stern
Limited Edition of 5000 Units
RETAIL PRICE: $39.98
STARTS SHIPPING DEC 3
La-La Land Records, MGM and Capitol Records proudly present a 3-CD limited edition 50th Anniversary remastered and expanded reissue of acclaimed composer John Williams’ Academy Award-Winning score to the classic 1971 motion picture adaptation of the Tony Award-Winning musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, starring Topol, Norma Crane and Leonard Frey, and produced and directed by Norman Jewison. The timeless songs (“Matchmaker,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” etc.) were written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, and the film soundtrack features virtuoso violin soloist Isaac Stern. Orchestrations for the film are by Alexander Courage and Williams himself.
The enduring big screen film version of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, produced by The Mirisch Company in association with United Artists, premiered 50 years ago and went on to become one of the year’s biggest hits and earn Academy Awards for Cinematography, Sound and Best Adapted Score. The winner in the latter category was none other than John Wiliams, soon after to become the world’s most famous film composer and win Oscars for his own now-classic music for JAWS, STAR WARS, E.T. and SCHINDLER’S LIST.
In celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary, this deluxe presentation, approved by Mr. Williams, offers a fully restored, remixed and remastered original soundtrack recording program on Disc One, a second disc of alternate versions, and a third disc featuring early “playback” versions of the songs as well as selections of Williams’ underscore and other musical material released for the first time. (Some tracks on Disc 3 are derived from the finished film mix and may contain sound effects). Produced, restored, mixed and mastered in high resolution by Mike Matessino (from the 1-inch 8-track soundtrack masters for the main program material), this limited CD re-issue of 5000 units includes an exclusive, deluxe essay booklet by Matessino that provides a detailed account of the creation of the score, which was recorded at Anvil Studios in England, and never-before-seen photos from the recording sessions. A second booklet provides a colorful program guide. The joyous art design is by Jim Titus.
TRACK LISTING:
CD1
REMASTERED ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK RECORDING 67:40
1. Prologue And Tradition & Main Title 11:21
2. Matchmaker 3:58
3. If I Were A Rich Man 5:24
4. Sabbath Prayer 2:41
5. To Life 6:14
6. Miracle Of Miracles 2:06
7. Tevye’s Dream 6:44
8. Wedding Procession 1:33
9. Sunrise, Sunset 3:52
10. Wedding Celebration And The Bottle Dance 3:56
11. First Act Finale 1:28
12. Entr’acte 1:49
13. Do You Love Me? 3:15
14. Far From The Home I Love 3:02
15. Chava Ballet Sequence 2:36
16. The Rejection Scene 1:40
17. Anatevka 3:43
18. Finale 1:52
CD2
ALTERNATE AND FILM VERSIONS 65:18
1. Prologue And Tradition & Main Title (Alternate) 11:31
2. Matchmaker (Alternate) 3:42
3. If I Were A Rich Man (Alternate) 4:58
4. Sabbath Prayer (Alternate) 2:41
5. To Life (Alternate) 6:19
6. Miracle Of Miracles (Alternate) 2:09
7. Tevye’s Dream (Alternate) 6:55
8. Sunrise, Sunset (Alternate) 3:52
9. Wedding Celebration And The Bottle Dance (Instrumental) 3:48
10. Any Day Now (Unused) 2:45
11. Do You Love Me? (Alternate) 3:13
12. Far From The Home I Love (Alternate) 3:02
13. Chava Ballet Sequence (Alternate) 2:36
14. The Rejection Scene (Instrumental) 1:33
15. Anatevka (Alternate) 3:42
16. Finale (Alternate) 2:05
CD3
PLAYBACKS AND ADDITIONAL SCORE 56:02
1. Timpani Fanfare :18
2. Matchmaker (Playback Version) 4:46
3. If I Were A Rich Man (Playback Version) 5:03
4. Sabbath Prayer (Playback Version) 2:41
5. Tevye Thinks On It 1:04
6. To Life (Playback Version) 6:47
7. Street Scene And Riverbank :58
8. Perchik And Hodel Dance :46
9. Tevye’s Monologue 2:40
10. Miracle Of Miracles (Playback Version) 2:21
11. Chava Takes The Book :43
12. Dream Epilogue :28
13. Wedding Preparation :52
14. Wedding Procession (Playback Version) 2:19
15. Sunrise, Sunset (Playback Version) 3:45
16. The Cornfield – Tradition :48
17. Socio-Economic Relationship :35
18. Any Day Now (Playback Version) 2:46
19. Tevye’s Rebuttal 2:35
20. Do You Love Me? (Playback Version) 3:14
21. Far From The Home I Love (Playback Version) 2:27
22. Russian Church 1:36
23. Anatevka (Playback Version) 2:44
24. Exodus (Excerpt) 1:30
25. Fiddler On The Roof (Instrumental) 1:46
Three-Disc Total Time: 3:09:00
Some tracks on Disc 3 are derived from the finished film mix and may contain sound effects
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Ug sfx… and no complete chronological program, right?

 

How many previously unreleased material is there?

 

i may pass ordering this at day one.


 

mr williams really? You are ok releasing sfx cues and not about releasing sugarland?

 

gimme a break!

 

and now alexander courage orchestrated too? 
 

did williams get an oscar for doind the same as newman on west side story?

 

(overreacting i know)


 

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33 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Ug sfx… and no complete chronological program, right?

 

I know nothing of the film but what makes you say this isn't complete? 

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This is a favourite of mine. Instant buy for me!

I wish it had a chronological version, though, with no dialogue/monologue. Only singing and Williams's score. Really looking forward to the sound upgrade - we're lucky to have Matessino, guys!

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12 minutes ago, TownerFan said:

I did some consultancy on this project so I will probably come out biased, but the only thing I can say is that this release is worth all the time, money and attention of any serious John Williams fan. It's truly a wonderful presentation.

 

 

Courage's involvement is known since 1971, as he's credited in the main titles.

 

Williams' Oscar is more than deserved. It's a massive work of arranging, orchestration and also composition.

Io stavo scherzando :)

 

(I'm reading Umberto Eco's Baudolino in italian right now... hehe )

 

But i had not read courage's involvement before (or dont remember it). I had assumed Williams had done all of it.

 

About the SFX,can you speak about it? are they only in source music, which i could not mind, or are there orchestral cues with them too?

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1 hour ago, Thor said:

 

 

I'm content with my 30th anniversary disc from 2001, which is already pushing the patience, length-wise. Nice artwork, though.


 

Oh thank God. I couldn’t start my morning until I knew you were happy with a previous release. 
 

Phew!

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Go figure, I just picked up an earlier version of this a few months ago as part of a goal of owning all the scores that won oscars.  I'll still get this on day 1 anyway because it is the superior version.

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6 minutes ago, ciarlese said:

Can we agree that this won't sell out quickly?

 

I won't bet on that!

 

I'll observe my usual one month pause before buying a new expansion, to let you time to find defaults.

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Im  a bit disappointed also with this release , but to be fair, i dont know the music very well, other than the famous songs. I think Im going to give it a miss, and continue to try and catch up with the expanded releases I dont have. 

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19 minutes ago, Toa_of_Pi said:

Go figure, I just picked up an earlier version of this a few months ago as part of a goal of owning all the scores that won oscars.

 

Just occurred to me that Star Wars is now the only Oscar-winning score by Williams that Mike Matessino hasn't remastered in the modern era...

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3 minutes ago, crumbs said:

 

Just occurred to me that Star Wars is now the only Oscar-winning score by Williams that Mike Matessino hasn't remastered in the modern era...

Maybe because it doesn't deserve it 🤔

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Oh disc 1 is the 30th anniversary version, without the song demo (track 19). So it is not the original ost. Good


but it means the rest of the underscore must have sfx and therefore not eligible fpr the main presentation :(

 

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12 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Oh disc 1 is the 30th anniversary version, without the song demo (track 19). So it is not the original ost. Good

 

So if I understand correctly, one would need to combine the orchestral underscore tracks on disc 3 with either disc 1 or 2 (depending on whether you prefer the album or film recordings of the songs) to create a C&C-esque presentation of the score, songs included?

 

Did a quick comparison of the soundtrack and film and the vocals are very different in some places, but identical to the vocals in the film in other places (literally inserted from on-set recordings, it seems).

 

12 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

but it means the rest of the underscore must have sfx and therefore not eligible fpr the main presentation :(

 

I wouldn't assume all the underscore cues are taken from the film stem, complete with SFX. Might just be one or two cues because scoring elements had deteriorated.

 

I'm a little surprised by the (apparent) lack of orchestral-only tracks, if only because the music itself is so wonderful and the vocal recordings have such terrible quality on previous releases (and in the film) so they detract from Williams' score. Maybe the "alternates" on disc 2 are score-only versions, considering anyone who wants the film vocal versions can just watch the film?

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Colour me a little surprised that Williams would approve something with:

 

Quote

Some tracks on Disc 3 are derived from the finished film mix and may contain sound effects

 

But at least they've been upfront about this, instead of leaving it to the JWFan problem-seeking hordes :ph34r:

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Finally some positivity too! I'm glad, this'll be so good!

 

 

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

So if I understand correctly, one would need to combine the orchestral underscore tracks on disc 3 with either disc 1 or 2 (depending on whether you prefer the album or film recordings of the songs) to create a C&C-esque presentation of the score, songs included?

That's actually a cool way to approach it if combined it'd be too long for a single disc. No real picking of a main program from the label and producer, you get 3 programs and play away as you like.

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It's nuts how big of a hit Fiddler was.  I feel like it was pretty much the very last mega-blockbuster grand Hollywood musical (and yes, I realize it wasn't made in Hollywood).  In today's dollars it earned something like $600 million, a Marvel level hit :lol:

 

Needless to say, the success of the movie raised Williams' profile a lot.

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On 26/11/2021 at 3:33 AM, Luke Skywalker said:

How many previously unreleased material is there?

 

Only disc 1 and the "Any Day Now" demo on disc 2 has been released before.  Everything else here is previously unreleased

 

On 26/11/2021 at 3:33 AM, Luke Skywalker said:

and now alexander courage orchestrated too? 

 

Check out Courage's credit during the opening titles, 2:19 into this video

 

 

 

On 26/11/2021 at 7:35 AM, crumbs said:

Just occurred to me that Star Wars is now the only Oscar-winning score by Williams that Mike Matessino hasn't remastered in the modern era...

 

He's actually only remastered Fiddler, Jaws, and ET.

 

For Star Wars, he did not do any technical work; Nick Redman produced that release ase, and had Mike write the liner notes and outline how he'd like the music to be presented, then Dan Hersch did the actual editing, as well as the mastering.  A new set produced, mixed, edited, and mastered by Matessino would be great!

 

For Schindler's List, disc 1 of that set is not remastered and uses the 1993 album master.  The only musical work he did for that release is the bonus material on disc 2.  I hope we get a 2CD set in 2023 for Schindler's 30th rebuilt from the ground up, that'd be great!

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2 hours ago, crumbs said:

Are the pre-recorded versions on disc 3 likely to be music only, or also with pre-recorded vocals? Wouldn't you just need the music as a reference on set? 

Would be pretty hard to lipsync without the vocals!

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2 hours ago, Jay said:

"Playback Version" means the music recorded before filming, to then play back for the actors to lip-sync to on set, so they have vocals.  In some cases these versions are longer than the final versions of the songs, as you can see by comparing times!


This is really amazing to get these longer versions given how they are effectively a step along the path - more of an insider look at the process from adaptation to filming. It will be great to hear the work by Williams and Courage in full. 

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3 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I find it an interesting decision, that for a musical the song composers are not mentioned on the cover.

 

Don't say it loudly! I got a mouthful from Mike M. over on FSM for mentioning this fact.

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2 hours ago, DrTenma said:

Umm... So I like the OST but I was disappointed after seeing the track-list (and specially the "sound fx" disclamer) but the comments of @Jayand @TownerFan  made me think to purchase it, so i'll try to buy it!

 

 

Do or do not, there is no try.

 

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Don't say it loudly! I got a mouthful from Mike M. over on FSM for mentioning this fact.

 

Link, please.

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