Kings Row

Being particularly good at coming up with faintly plausible excuses for finding certain scores difficult to review, I must confess that the re-recording of Korngold's classic Kings Row is yet another challenge. Of course the music itself is superb, Erich Wolfgang Korngold could lay claim to never really having written a bad score and Kings Row is one of his best, the main title one of his most famous. According to the liner notes, the composer received more letters requesting the titles music than any of his other scores, surprising given his unforgettable catalogue of music for the likes of Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk. As the Gramophone Film Music guide notes, to anyone under 30, the theme sounds like an amalgam of Williams' Superman and Star Wars. The similarity with those efforts is quite striking, not only in the shamelessly exuberant brass and soaring strings, but the harmony and melody are distinctly echoed in the later works.

What makes Kings Row difficult to comment upon is that the score is divided up into two long suites, reflecting the split of the music on LP. There is a cue list, but is not indexed and there isn't even an indication as to which cues appear on which of the (slightly unequal) halves. The notes assure the listener that no such guidance is needed, but it takes quite a bit of concentration to keep up with Korngold's numerous motifs; from the occasional reappearance of the main theme, to the playful music for The Children, the warm music for Grandmother and the less glossy passages for the more dramatic parts. Even here, there is a warmth and romance to Korngold's writing, as usual, never quite escaping his romantic, Viennese roots. Of course, I recommend not bothering trying to keep up and simply close your eyes and let the music speak for itself.

I think most fans of golden age scores would have been euphoric had Charles Gerhardt re-recorded many scores from the era, but alas he only made a few, and this is one of those treasures. The National Philharmonic are responsive, with plenty of swagger in the opening title, lilting and delicate throughout the more understated majority and disarmingly playful for the score's lighter moments. Released on CD in 1991, the original recording was made in 1979, but so good is the sound quality that you'd think it was recorded in 1991. An equal to any classical recording of the time and certainly far superior to many original score recordings of the period. Away from the largely forgotten film, (a potboiler starring a pre-presidential Ronald Reagan) Korngold's music can be taken as a tone poem or a ballet suite, as it is independently descriptive enough to exist on its own terms. A superb rendition of a classic score, essential.