Quidam
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDAudio: French (Original Language)
Format: Enhanced, Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 1997-01-14
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
- Atmadja
- Incantation
- Marelle
- Rivage
- Zydeko
- Let Me Fall
- Innocence
- Carrousel
- Steel Dream
- S?isouso
- R?veil
- Quidam
Music reviews of Quidam
Music Review: Let Me Fall....Back Into The Original Performance!
Rating: 2 Stars
It is with sorrow I give the Quidam soundtrack two stars. Were it not for a few redeeming qualities, it would have received only one. I am not a Cirque "fanatic" but a viewer who appreciates the music as much as the acrobatic performances, and thus I expect (hope) that any Cirque soundtrack would correspond to the original performance.
I am not unfamiliar with the Quidam CD; in fact, I have listened to it many times over the past several years. It was not until I ripped the audio from my DVD that I realized how incredibly different the official soundtrack is from the actual show. A review of each track follows.
---DVD PERFORMANCE ACTS---
German Wheel
Diabolos (spools)
Aerial Contortion in Silk
Skipping Ropes
Clowns
Aerial Hoops
Handbalancing
Spanish Web
Statue
Cloud Swing
Banquine
Various Interludes, including John Gilkey's Acts
---CD TRACKS---
1. Atmadja: The opening of the show, sung by 11-year-old Audrey Brisson-Jutr?s. This track is identical to the performance and has very beautiful, rich acoustics. As it is in the show, the track is very short.
2. Incantation: Theme of "German Wheel". Like much of the CD, the orchestrations are whittled down to a bare minimum and the instrumentation here is flat and dull. The male vocal (sung by Mathieu Lavoie) is missing, taking away greatly from the tribal feel of the piece. The last 40 seconds pick up with fuller strings, but at this point, it's a bit of a lost cause.
3. Marelle: An interlude between acts in the performance, sung by Brisson-Jutr?s. Identical to the show, also very short.
4. Rivage: A techno vocal piece sung by both Brisson-Jutr?s and Lavoie. Fits very well with Quidam's musical themes but is not actually present in the DVD version of the show. Heavily syncopated with drums and electric guitar. The chorus is a little repetitive but the music is sweeping and enjoyable.
5. Zydeko: A clownish version of "Skipping Ropes". It is performed without seriousness and with ghost-like instrumentals. The beauty of the original score is entirely absent and is oddly spliced between "Zydeko" and "Innocence" on the album. The running time is a joke at 1:19 and it may as well have been left out.
6. Let Me Fall: One of the few redeeming qualities of the soundtrack! A credit to the album, this is the theme to "Aerial Contortion in Silk" but with added lyrics. Haunting, tender, and emotional.
7. Innocence: At 1:56, this tiny portion of "Skipping Ropes" is incomplete and dragging in tempo. It is incredibly difficult to appreciate at such a ridiculous length and needs to be part of the full score.
8. Carrousel: The first minute is the introduction to "Clowns" but slowed to an agonizing pace. Just when the listener feels like he or she is going to be thrust into the fun, toe-tapping theme of the comic relief, the music suddenly changes to the serious vocal interlude between Skipping Ropes and Aerial Hoops. A female singer is added. I'm pleased this interlude was included but it does nothing to redeem a fallen album and the "Clowns" tidbit seems, like the rest of the soundtrack, "thrown in" in an poor attempt to put some of the show music onto a disc.
9. S?isouso: A beautiful piece from Aerial Hoops. This is one of the few real tastes of the live performance that stays true to itself...sort of. Thankfully a fuller orchestra peeks through, and Brisson-Jutr?s's contributions are always appreciated, but an accordion? This instrument is disjointed and is a strange addition to an already perfect score. It needed no change from the original.
10. R?veil: Finally! A piece that made it directly from the performance to the soundtrack. This is the theme to "Statues" in all it's breathtaking glory. The full orchestra (having been thrust underground until now) makes its debut here to great relief.
11. Quidam: The brief finale orchestration is transformed into an uninspiring, English-vocal piece. Listening to it feels like the creators are trying to tell the story to new audiences, clarifying that Quidam is "everyman, anyman." The chorus is repeated way too many times. Okay to hear once a year but no more.
---TRACKS CUT FROM CD---
Diabolos
Skipping Ropes (what exists does not count
Clowns (what exists does not count)
Handbalancing
Spanish Webs
Cloud Swing
Banquine
Various Interludes
John Gilkey's Acts, including Coatrack Mambo
---FINAL TAKE---
My 2-star rating comes from the following:
Out of eleven mind-blowing acts, we are given the full, unaltered music from two.(Banquine and Diabolos are included on the "enhanced" version but having not listened to it, I do not know if they are complete and true to the show). Audrey's interlude pieces are beautiful, but their short duration are not nearly enough to bring the CD out of dispair. These and "Let Me Fall" but these are small concessions when over two-thirds of the performance score is missing.
The rest of the tracks are painstakingly short, spliced together, and generally cheap skeleton imitations of the originals. The ochestrations are sparse and uninspiring. The entire album is generally confused and bears little resemblance to the actual show. Now that I've taken the audio from the DVD (something that even novices can do with free programs online or "came-with" software like Windows Movie Maker) I will be transferring "Let Me Fall" to my iPod and selling this CD at my next garage sale. Shame on Cirque for not giving its viewers a soundtrack worthy of such an amazing show.
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