 |  | Nice re-interpretation of Shore's epic |  |
Conductor Nic Raine's style nicely complement's the original Howard Shore epic with a more subtle, classical, and operatic vocal style. This 2-disc set has high production quality and is performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
My favorites:
"Evenstar" (vocal performed by Charlotte Kinder)
"Twilight and Shadow" (vocal performed by Charlotte Kinder)
"Into the West" (Cello instrumental)
"May It Be" (vocal performed by Tara Scammell)
Although the performances here are more nuanced and lack the raw emotional power of the Shore versions, it is nonetheless a refreshing rendition and provides additional layers of texture to Tolkien's world.
May 24, 2008This is not Howard Shore and no-one should think it is, however I found it a nice addition to my LOTR music collection. I have all the Shore music and it is outstanding - this is interesting, nowhere near as good, but very nice nonetheless. I especially like the soprano Charlotte Kinder on this CD and I would recommend it just for her contribution in some ways I prefer her to Renee Fleming, but that is of course a subjective statement. The other female singer is ok, but nothing special compared to the originals.
July 8, 2007I had real high hopes for the soundtrack cause the movies ROCKED!!! This was a disappointment cause the vocal version of "Into the West" "sucked" cause the lady sounded like she lost her voice an faded in an out. They should have gotten Enya to do the vocals or AT LEAST the Into the West cause the ldy that sung it made the volume "suck" when I thought it would have a BIG finish but instead it had a BIG disappiontment!!!
March 30, 2007Just be sure to read up on this closely... it's not the orchestra you hear in the movie, and you may be especially disappointed when you hear the vocal tracts - gone are great talents Enya and Annie Lennox, replaced by no-name voices. This is not BAD music, but don't think you're a genius for capturing the music of the movies on one inexpensive 2-CD set.
August 31, 2006Howard Shore's scores to the three Lord of the Rings movies are a classical masterpiece in their own right, and as such I don't mind hearing them played by a different orchestra. While I prefer the originals on the whole, this set has some very nice things to recommend it. The best part is that you get instrumental renditions of the end credits song from each film. My favorite is "Into the West," from The Return of the King, with a cello replacing Annie Lennox's vocal performance. I really disliked Lennox's ugly, popified performance of the song, but I thought that the melody and orchestration were gorgeous, so I could not be more delighted to hear the song performed by a cello, with all original orchestration intact. That one track is worth $20 to me.
March 29, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(12 reviews)