The Red Violin

John Corigliano is more well known as a composer of modern concert music, but like so many concert composers, has turned his attentions to a few films, most notably the critically acclaimed Altered States. The Red Violin provides a story arc spanning hundreds of years; from the instrument's creation and through several characters and events dotted through history. Of course given the subject matter, the violin and music in general are even more essential to the film more than usual. Director Francois Girard evidently realised that the importance music in the film and so was extremely fortunate to be able to acquire the services of John Corigliano and arguably, even more importantly, those of the supremely brilliant violinist Joshua Bell. Bell performs widely on the album, in fact often at the expense of the rest of the orchestra, but his playing is always exquisite and so one barely notices the lack of full orchestra. When the orchestra (in this case the Philharmonia) is playing, it is under the expert guidance of conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen who has previously conducted several albums of film music, most notably an excellent collection of suites from the film music of Bernard Herrmann.

The album opens with the delicately wrought Anna's Theme which is about as close to a main theme that the score receives. Despite Bell's prominent role as soloist, it is actually first intoned by soprano (I think) Alexys Schwartz in a kind of sombre, but almost folk-like version of the opening vocal on Amistad (a comparison for the sake of making one and no other reason) and then by Bell on violin. The score then follows in five, well, movements that are defined by the locations that the violin turns up throughout the film. There are, of course, minor musical hints of the location, but the writing always seems more concerned with drama and emotion than ethnic diversions. There are some nice touches though; the Gypsy Band in the aptly name The Gypsies and Journey Across Europe and the slight Oriental sounds to Shanghai. One would be hard pressed to tell the segments apart without the notes since the differences between them are fairly minor. The music often plays as more of a totally continuous suite than a collection of different ones.

As mentioned, Bell takes centre stage for much of the score, which is mainly wringing even more beauty from Corigliano's already sublime music. Of course there are a few, fast paced virtuoso moment, notably Etudes which is an almost impossibly fast solo scherzo that is quite breathtaking. In fact Vienna and the following Oxford sections contain the majority of Bell's most impressive solo playing. Anyone who adores the beauty of a solo violin played at its best will surely get a kick from this middle passage.

While solo violin takes absolute centre stage, Corigliano limits the general orchestral palette to mainly strings and almost nothing else. Perhaps the larges divergance from this are the gypsy music along with the superb choral section in People's Revolution. Only in the Chaconne for Violin and Orchesrta is the restraint eschewed in favour of a more exuberant orchestral showcase which weaves the ideas for the score into a totally cohesive suite that makes for a very satisfying conlcusion. In fact without it, the album would rather fade away in the very modest and understated End Titles.

There is no doubting the enourmous dramatic depth to the music and the performances, as expected, exceed the usually very high standard of most film music. While there have been several scores featuring solo violinists, one of the most famous recent examples being Williams' Schindler's List, but I feel that Bell's interpretations are perhaps even more vital than even the wonderful Itzhak Perlman. The sublime dramatic intensity of Corigliano's music is also even greater than that of Williams' masterpiece. When a film score is so obviously brilliant, but so obviously closer to the more difficult listening experience of modern concert music, it is difficult to make recommendations. While Williams' work is infinitely more understated than much of his output, it still has a very clearly defined melodic content and while I wouldn't for a minute suggest that The Red Violin was tuneless, the melodies are etched much more subtlely and the demands on the listener are greater. Anyone who is a fan of modern concert music will likely love every minute of the score, but those with a palette for the more strongly defined melody and very obvious emotion in 'typical' film music might come away, at least at first, with the feeling that it's perhaps a bit boring and tuneless. Repeated listens should almost certainly cure this feeling, but this is not an instant, high impact score, but one that requires patience and careful listening. Those who do listen with open ears are likely to be richly rewarded.