North: Cleopatra

List Price: $16.98
Our Price: $16.94
You Save: $8.00 (32%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $13.50 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details

CD Details

Music reviews of North: Cleopatra

Music Review: Alex North's Masterful "Cleopatra" Glows and Shimmers
Rating: 5 Stars

In 1950, an innovator named Alex North came to Hollywood to score "A Streetcar Named Desire" -- a combination of jazz and symphonic music that changed the nature of film music composition. (One of today's most gifted move music maestros, Jerry Goldsmith, decided to become a film composer after seeing "Viva Zapata" in 1952 because of the score written by Alex North).

North's masterpieces are considered, arguably, to be "Spartacus" and "Cleopatra" -- the latter is seen as having evolved from the former. Whereas "Spartacus" (the complete true soundtrack of which may never be forthcoming, sad to say) is raw, dissonant savagery commingled with some of the purest of melodies, "Cleopatra" is nearly pure intellect, with hints of savagery at the fringes -- any time, in fact, the might of the Roman Empire interferes with Cleopatra's grand designs. "Spartacus" is drums and horns screeching and wailing (and in amazing rhythms and tempos...enough to bring human blood to a fighting boil), "Cleopatra" is exotic chimes and percussive effects, along with gentle strings weaving warm, sinuous lines of music underneath dialogue and around grand palace sets. Then, too, it is a rawly sexual, sensual procession into Rome, as well as tender, heartbreaking farewells.

Varese Sarabande, executive producers Nick Redman and Robert Townson and restoration producer Lukas Kendall have all worked a miracle with their efforts on this score. Running at a combined time of just over 150 minutes, this score presentation sounds like it was recorded yesteday, rather than 39 years ago. The liner notes offer tantalizing glimpses into the gigantic puzzle everyone involved faced when working with the recording masters. They had to piece this score together in much the same way Alex North had to do it back in 1963, although digital technology, I have been assured, makes it more financially viable than would be possible without it.

I am always amazed every time a great film score -- from any age -- gets this kind of loving attention. So many people invest their time and money into saving a film score from total oblivion for the sheer love of doing it. This is never a lucrative enterprise. Film scores don't make "profits" in the conventional sense of the word. There are the rare ones that do, but something such as "Cleopatra" won't be among them (although the original soundtrack did sell quite well back in 1963). And it's a tragedy, really, because this music makes the film much more than it actually is...more exquisite, more human, more watchable.

There are two main themes -- "Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Antony and Cleopatra" that run throughout North's score like golden threads in a Flemish tapestry. In the cue "Coronation," you hear the "Caesar and Cleopatra" theme played out on tinkling chimes. This is not Top 100 fodder. It's not likely to please anyone but those who love movies and movie music. Then, too, it might please a few classical music listeners, too, especially those who like new experiences, for that is what this score is...for young and old...a strikingly original, complex composition of the modern school that was constructed to evoke an ancient time.

Alex North's "Cleopatra" withstood 39 years of virtual anonymity, kept alive by the memories and passions of a few hundred film music fans. Today, a handful of those fans are to be praised for restoring it for present and future generations. Alex North may not have been the greatest film composer to come out of Hollywood, but he is one of the greatest. As for his score for "Cleopatra," it's one of Hollywood's true masterpieces.

If I could possibly recommend it more highly, I would.

Description of North: Cleopatra

Pop CDs

• Music > Styles
• Soundtracks