Salter, Dessau: House Of Frankenstein / Stromberg, Moscow Symphony

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
September 25, 2007
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      SALTER, HANS J.
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Moscow Symphony Orchestra
    • PERFORMER
      William Stromberg
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      September 25, 2007
    • UPC
      747313018871
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8570188
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Orchestral & Symphonic
    Works ⌄

    1. Universal Signature

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    2. Main Title

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    3. Lightning Strikes

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    4. Gruesome Twosome Escape

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    5. Strangulation

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    6. Off to Vasaria

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    7. Chamber of Horrors

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    8. Dracula Restored

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    9. Dracula's Ring

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    10. The Burgomaster Murdered

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    11. Rendezvous with Dracula

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    12. The World Beyond

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    13. Dracula Pursued

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    14. Dracula Destoyed

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    15. Gypsy Tantrums

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    16. Ilonka Whipped

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    17. Dan's Love

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    18. The Ruins

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    19. The Monstrosities

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    20. Wolf Man Revived

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    21. Show Me the Records

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    22. Travels

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    23. Hunchback's Jealousy

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    24. Niemann's Laboratory

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    25. Liquefying Brains

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    26. Niemann's Revenge

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    27. The Pentagram

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    28. Full Moon

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    29. Silver Bullet

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    30. Dr. Niemann Successful

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    31. The Moon is Full

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    32. Larry at Peace

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    33. Dr Niemann Attacked

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    34. Death of the Unholy Two

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg

    35. End Cast

      Composer: Hans J. Salter

      Ensemble: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

      Conductor: William Stromberg


Production values high, recordings full and spacious, performances totally committed.

Just when you thought it was safe to leave the shelter of the world behind the sofa here come not one, not two, but three monsters – Dracula, The Wolf Man and the Frankenstein Monster! And with them comes the most preposterous plot of all! Mad scientist Boris Karloff escapes from prison thanks to a thunderstorm; with a hunchback assistant he takes the persona of the owner of a travelling chamber of horrors. Within days he has got his hands on the three monsters already named, finding the Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man encased in ice in a cave, and he punctuates his desire for revenge with experiments in brain transplants! In the end, everybody dies.

Whether or not the plot is silly, to say the least, the music is superb!

Hans J Salter was another refugee from Nazi Germany, a man who studied with Alban Berg and Franz Schreker, who made his career in Hollywood. His collaborator, Paul Dessau, had arrived in America in 1939 after a career in Europe as both composer and conductor. He was made more politically aware through wartime collaboration with Brecht and joined the American Communist Party in 1946, returning to East Berlin two years later. His collaboration with Brecht continued, and after the writer’s death took to writing using Schoenberg’s twelve note technique and supporting the growing West European avant-garde.

This disk gives us the complete score for the film – 55 minutes of the most eerie and atmospheric music, with the most evocative titles – Rendezvous with Dracula, Death of the Unholy Two and Liquefying Brains. What a score it is and what marvellous work John Morgan has done in his reconstruction from a three line piano score – Universal having destroyed all their old horror film scores. The orchestration is fully 1940s horror and the music sounds incredibly modern – so much so that when the Moscow musicians were recording the score they wondered if it was from a modern film. This is music for film which was truly ahead of its time.

Having already written about seven of these disks in the Naxos Film Music Classics series there is little new I can say. The production values are high, the recordings full and spacious, the performances totally committed, the booklet helpful and detailed and the standard of scholarship without peer.

How about giving us some David Raksin? I’d put The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), The Big Combo (1955) and Al Capone (1959) on the list for a start. Am I being greedy? Of course I am, but Naxos cannot, after what we’ve already heard, stop giving us such quality recordings.

-- Bob Briggs, MusicWeb International