Vere-ing Off Course?

Despite my initial aversion to the movie, I rented "Anonymous" and enjoyed it. It makes Elizabeth I into a ninny and Shakespeare into a fool, but it's fun. That said, the Oxford position has no legs to stand on; like most conspiracy theories, it's evidenced by a *lack* of evidence, by unproven assertions that depend on a string of other unproven assertions, pieced together like a Rube Goldberg machine. Sure, it's possible DeVere authored "Shakespeare," just as it's possible God created a universe that only *appears,* to all objective persons, billions of years old. Possible but illogical. Still, I commend "Anonymous" as fair entertainment and the Oxford debate as fun mental floss.

The legendary 1982 sountrack for "Conan the Barbarian" was re-recorded by Nic Raine and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir in 2010. The album is available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Conan-Barbarian-Complete-Rerecording-Soundtrack/dp/B004H1YH66/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top. Here's my review:

I went into the Raine re-recording with high hopes and an open mind, especially when I discovered that the Poledouris family was on-board with the Raine project.

The short of it? This new production will not replace your original Poledouris recordings. Never. But Nic Raine's "Conan the Barbarian" ranks among the top ten, maybe top five, albums that I own. The conductor, orchestra, chorus, and recording are amazing. No, Raine is not Poledouris, but he and the Prague musicians may be as close as we'll ever get to the late maestro. Listening to some of the classic tracks, I felt the same thrill as when I was a teenager listening to the original score for the first time on stereo. Then there are the wonderful tracks we *never* got to hear, except on terrible bootlegs. Now we have everything we ever wanted, if not, sadly, from Poledouris himself, then from a conductor, orchestra, and chorus who do stellar service to the music. Great recording, great musicianship, great direction.

That said, I should refer readers to F. Dean's thorough, perhaps definitive, review of the Raine recording. I concur with much of Dean's criticism, though not strenuously. Again, the Raine recording is NOT the Poledouris version. Yes, Raine does an amazing job, and he channels Poledouris far better than you'd imagine from reading Dean's review. Raine does especially well with expansive, flowing pieces like "Wifeing," "The Leaving/The Search," and "The Orgy." And he does well with the adrenalized pieces, too: you'll hear orchestral parts you may never have heard before. But--but--it's on these pieces that I most agree with Dean. The edge on "Anvil of Crom" and "Battle of the Mounds/Death of Rexor" is still sharp, but it's not vorpal-edge sharp like it is on the Poledouris recording. Poledouris and his musicians sound like they're performing for their very lives; they attack their music with Cimmerian fury. Raine and his musicians attack the hardcore pieces with professional gusto, but not quite with such fury. The chorus, in particular, does not sing with quite the hair-raising passion of the Poledouris recording; the chorus sings beautifully, especially on the less violent pieces, but they seem unable to muster Cimmerian battle-lust when the songs call for it. Aquilonian battle-lust, sure, but not Cimmerian. Perhaps if Raine and his musicians had been under as intense pressure as Poledouris was, perhaps if they'd played to-the-movie rather than following the score freely, we'd have ended up with more Sturm und Drang.

However, I do not mean to unfairly compare this amazing re-recording to the inimitable original. That would be a disservice to Raine and his musicians. Classic recordings are great, but music is meant to live, generation after generation, on the lips and fingertips of new musicians. And live it does, with Raine and the Prague musicians. It doesn't live quite the same way as it does under Poledouris's direction, but it's very, very close, and beautifully so.

I've spent almost a week listening to the Raine CDs beginning-to-end. I feel like a kid again, and it's not even Christmas yet. Treat yourself to Raine and his musicians. Whatever the pros and cons on this recording, music like this is what's best in life.

So much has happened since I last wrote on this blog: graduating from Berkeley, dealing with family illnesses and deaths, going through a divorce, through moving, grief and depression. Some things haven't changed, though--nature is still one of my balms, along with music, poetry, good company, and time to myself.

A journal entry from mid-October: 

                Magical as sunsets, constellations, and moonlight may be, I may be falling more in love with Dawn—Ushas, Eos. I woke to full dark this morning, so I drove to Rockville and began hiking just as the eastern horizon was turning plum. A musk of bay leaves, like basil, infused the air; even the trail-dust smelled sweet and fresh. As dawn and daybreak progressed, the whole landscape took on a gold tinge. It was like a Maxfield Parrish, colors and shadows saturated. Even the driest, deadest plants looked vibrant. The sky was cerulean, of course, and even Parrish couldn’t have outdone the painterly fog and clouds.

                I went to my new favorite trail, Cave View at the westernmost end of the park. It runs along the edge of a long cliff and boasts a garden of andesite, scrub, and quirky, shady blue oaks. One of the oaks has a trunk with a muppet-like face. Moss covers plants and rocks alike. Below and west of the cliff spread semi-rural Green Valley, vineyards, stables, oaks stands, homesteads, upper-crust neighborhoods. West of them rise the Napa hills, tufted with oaks like mounds of Venus. All this, too, was gold-tinged and saturated.

                In a perverse mood, and from necessity, I peed a golden tinge off the cliff, onto the ledge of a cave below. That was surprisingly fun.