Goldsmith Conducts Goldsmith

In the bad old days, there was only one Jerry Goldsmith compilation. Astonishingly, it had taken until 1989 for Goldsmith to not only start conducting concerts of his music, but to even assemble a compilation. This album was made by the Philharmonia Orchestra the day after his first concert at the Barbican in London and for almost a decade was the only Goldsmith collection available. Since it is long out of print, Silva Screen have taken up the rights, remastered the album and released it with a bonus track from the original Legend soundtrack.
It makes an interesting companion piece to the recent Telarc compilation. If nothing else, the choices here are considerably more astute. Goldsmith has recently been more keen to perform his softer scores, where he really shines when writing aggressive and progressive film music. One only need hear the suite from The Blue Max (which I've had the thrill of seeing performed live - and it is absolutely terrific) to be convinced that it's a better choice than something like Sleeping with the Enemy or even the charming, but somewhat insubstantial Rudy. Here, the superb score is pared down to the best and most exhilerating cues and given hugely energetic performances. This is followed by the crowd pleasing TV themes suite (pre Star Trek: Voyager of course) which is also given a great performance.

The suites from Masada and Lionheart are nice to have, even if Goldsmith himself seems to have dropped them from his concert hall repertoire. One especially enjoyable inclusion is the suite from Gremlins which takes in the prologue music, the jaunty suburban music (neither of which I think appear on the horribly short original album) and finally a slightly awkward arrangement of the Gremlins end credits. It just goes to show that some music really is better under pinned with electronics. I'm hoping that we get his Little Critters (or is it Tiny Creatures... I can never remember) suite which combines Small Soldiers and Gremlins in much the same way as his General's Suite. Here, that usual crowd pleaser is distinctly unexciting, the orchestra sounding somewhat listless at times. It's a surprise given how vibrant everything else is. The Motion Picture Medley (pre Air Force One and Basic Instinct - slightly insubstantial additions if you ask me) is very potent, aside from the slightly naff drum kit during the otherwise gorgeous Patch of Blue.

The other thing that compares favourably to the Telarc album is how much more upfront the recording is. The arrangements may be different to the somewhat originals, but the recording is crisp and free from concert hall acoustic. It does tend toward a little on the harsh side at times (especially when through head phones) - this is particularly noticeable when the selection from Legend, obviously engineered quite differently, appears. The performances are invariably more exciting than the LSO, or at least seem to possess a greater energy, particularly in something like Barnaby Jones.

It does seem surprising that Goldsmith chose not to include any Star Trek music, although it's something I can live without given its omnipresence on other albums. It makes a good companion album to the Telarc one and for those who like their film music recorded with great clarity and without concert hall acoustics, this may well be more to their taste. The selections are better and the performances generally bracing.