Two CD Reviews

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-Movie Soundtrack Composed by Nicholas Hooper
Rating: 4 stars
Number of times listened: 2

The operative word for this music is fun. Now it's an interesting fact that it's harder to compose music that is just happy than it is to write angstful tonescapes; this generalization generally holds true for all art forms, too. Now in this score Mr. Hooper has succeeded in doing just that, for this music is frequently joyous, hummable, and satisfying (yet innovative, though not for it's own sake.)
In fact, I really don't think of this as being a Harry Potter soundtrack. Hooper only quotes John Williams' signature theme melodies a few times, and the disc starts out with an excited little number that is distinctly un-Potterish: it sounds like a "western" hoe-down. The electric guitar doesn't sound like something Williams would have done, either. It's this willingness to do something new that makes it so refreshing, and, more importantly, stand on it's own as a piece of music. Now, I liked the movie, but it's always best when a soundtrack doesn't have to rely on a connection with film to be valuable to the listener.
A word on my rating system here. I really think this is a 5-star CD, but I have a little rule for 5-star ratings: I need to listen to them at least a dozen times. Then, if I still like them after that, they are 5-star discs. This disc is brand-new, so I've only listened to it once. But, I think it'll hold up. We'll see.



Prokofiev: 7 Symphonies & Lt. Kije
Rating: 5 stars
Number of Listenings: 20+ (?)

This is probably my favorite symphony cycle right now. Which is saying a lot, because there's some stiff competition: I own the complete symphonies of Beetoven, Mahler, Nielsen, Shostakovich, Sibelius, and Arthur Honegger. There is a lot of range in these symphonies, from the deliciously acrid modernities in the 2nd and 3rd Symphonies to the luxuriously updated Romanticism of the 5th. There is also the first, "Classical" Symphony, but I don't really consider it part of the set. It just seems out of place, stylistically and progressively. And anyway, I don't like it as much as the rest--of course, it's only, what, 15 minutes long? It doesn't exactly crowd out the other music. The set also includes the Lieutenant Kije Suite as a filler. This isn't remotely a symphony, but it's classic and pretty neat, and it's a new thing to hear certain parts sung like they were originally written to be.
It's hard to express or talk about the symphonies in any greater detail than just to say they're great because it's pure music all the way--no words, no subtexts that I'm aware of, nothing. Just wonderful sounds. Some are more recognizeable than others, of course, like the raucous step-up step-down fanfare that begins the 3rd Symphony, or that famous dancy bit in the 5th; but suffice to say they are all lovely. One of the interesting characteristics of Prokofiev's writing here is how varied his tonal pallete is. There are so many different "colors" here; unlike, say, Shostakovich, who seems to only compose in brownish-blues. Don't get me wrong, I like and admire Shostakovich, but I can't listen to him 20 times over. As near as I can tell (for I am no audiophile, as my own recordings no doubt make painfully obvious), the performances and sound quality in these discs is uniformly excellent. Deutsche Grammmophon CDs have a crisp, modern feel to their sound that I like, and that is present here, along with the affordability that is also often a trait of DG recordings. The only (not)real problem with this set is that it comes in one of those annoying cardboard boxes that won't fit in the CD rack.