Walton - Henry V | Chandos - Classics CHAN10437X

Walton - Henry V

£7.13

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Label: Chandos - Classics

Cat No: CHAN10437X

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Soundtrack

Release Date: 30th July 2007

Contents

Artists

Christopher Plummer (speaker)
Choristers of Westminster Cathedral
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus
Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Conductor

Sir Neville Marriner

Works

Walton, William

Henry V: A Shakespeare Scenario (arr. Christopher Palmer)

Artists

Christopher Plummer (speaker)
Choristers of Westminster Cathedral
Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus
Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Conductor

Sir Neville Marriner

About

Stellar performance of this comprehensive representation of Walton’s great film score, including noted Shakespearean actor Christopher Plummer who imparts presence and authority as speaker. Available for the first time at Classics price, in brand new contemporary packaging, this is a re-issue of Chandos’ recordings of Walton’s landmark scores for Olivier’s Shakespeare films.
 
Olivier starred and directed Henry V which begins as a recreation of stage production at the Globe Theatre then gradually turns into a stylized cinematic rendition of the play with sets reminiscent of the medieval Book of Hours. The film was made near the end of World War II and was intended as a morale booster for Great Britain, consequently the film was partly sponsored by the British government. The film won Olivier a number of Academy Awards and it also won William Walton an award for Best Score. The score was praised by music critics both as film music and as a concert suite in its own right. When the film was released in 1944 many music critics published detailed reviews of the score and extracts of it were presented at the Prom concerts in 1945.
 
This recording was made with Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. It was fortunate for Chandos that Sir Neville happened to know Christopher Plummer and suggested he might be persuaded to perform as speaker. The recording was a happy occasion and indeed Chandos chairman Brian Couzens still has a photograph in his study taken from these sessions which shows Brian with Sir Neville and Christopher Plummer.
 
On the recording’s original release the Sunday Telegraph wrote that ‘Chandos has performed a real service by recording [Walton’s] complete score for Olivier’s famous 1944 film of Henry V… the music represents one of the finest scores ever composed for the cinema and deserves to be preserved in this form’.
 
Quote at the original release:
"Chandos’s stunning sound captures with unflinching ease the rousing spectacle of the battle music at full tilt. In all, another winner of a CD in what’s turning out to be a most distinguished series."  Hi-Fi News

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