Onlinemagazin für Film und Filmmusik

[Jan Titel] Hello Anna, John and Bill. Thank you very much for this interview. Let us start with the most recent: You just returned from Moscow, where you launched another recording session for Tribute Film Classics. Can you tell us something about your choice of scores and the sessions?

[John Morgan] I was very happy to have the opportunity of revisiting both Max Steiner’s “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “The Prince and The Pauper”. The latter score Bill and i did for BMG back in 1995. We recorded about half the score for a film series that never was released in America. It is one of Korngold’s top scores and we felt by doing it complete, would be a revelation for both film music buffs and classical music fans. It is a charming, lively and an utterly delightful score.
“The Charge Of The Light Brigade” is one of the great scores of all time. Again, we did an extended suite for Marco Polo back in 1994, but I was not pleased with the results. Since about one third of the music was lost, I had to reconstruct (orchestrate) those pieces of music which included almost the entire “Charge” finale, along with many important cues. I rethought everything for our current rerecording, and we were able to record the entire score, although it took many additional hours with the orchestra to achieve the sound and playing we wanted. IT will be our first 2-CD set as the score is too long for a single CD. Both scores have their original trailer music included. At WArner Bros., the films always had special trailer scores written expressly for the film. They are both great scores that needed to be heard in modern sound to bring out the detail in the music. For two films that are 70 years old, it is amazing the amount of detail and flourishes these composers brought to the podium.

[Anna Bonn] Recording the complete score to “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” was an endeavor we took on knowing that it would be an enormous challenge.  Of all the recordings we have done in Moscow, this one proved to be the most difficult music we have ever placed in front of the orchestra, and the players let us know it.  John and I were very proud that Bill was able to conduct the orchestra and get the cues from the film’s final battle scenes up to tempo.  It was a workout for the players and they gave it their all.  We also recorded the trailer to “Arsenic and Old Lace” as a sort of coming attraction that will be on the end of the “Charge” disc.  We hope to record the complete score to “Arsenic” towards the end of this year.
“The Prince and The Pauper” was also a challenge as Korngold’s music is usually quite difficult. The orchestra was able to perform the score with grace and enthusiasm. We really had some wonderfully talented musicians to work with on these last sessions.

It’s already the third double session within a short time. Do you plan to hold up this speed in the future?

[JM] It just worked out this way with our availability and that of the orchestra. We had music ready to go, but I doubt if we can keep up the pace of recording two albums every few months. Our next project, one of the scores needs to be reconstructed from the ground up and than orchestral parts prepared. This takes time.

[AB] Our goal is to release on average of about four albums per year.  Since we’re a new recording label we took off on a running start to get our albums out there and create a name for ourselves.

First recordings for TFC featured Bernard Herrmann scores. What can you tell us about upcoming spotlights? More Herrmann? More of the rather obscure Skinner and Salter stuff you did with Marco Polo?

[JM] My hope is we can do the more obscure along with the more “easier sells” programing. Our only criteria is the music must be good and work away from the film. Of course, we need to make money to pay for these things, so I think a balance of various things would be our course. And of course, more Herrmann, as well as the other Golden Age composers.

[AB] We will be releasing another Herrmann album in late spring/early summer of 2008.  This album will include the complete scores to “The Kentuckian” and “Williamsburg: The Story Of A Patriot”. Also in late spring/early summer we will be releasing the complete score to Max Steiner’s “She”.

Do you try to record film scores, that are absolutely not available or does the fact, that the original recordings has already been released, not prevent you from rerecording it?

[JM] Well, a great score that is not available in good sound, or doesn’t exist in any form is a good starting point. A lot of things we do have had suites or original tracks released, but we feel doing a worthy score full length is a commendable endeavor.

[AB] We also get our research materials for reconstructing scores directly from studios, libraries, and private collections. This has a quite an impact on what we choose to record. Whenever it is possible Bill will conduct from copies of the original scores and orchestra members will read from the original parts.  Other times we are left with a lot of detective work in order to make a rerecording possible.

Will you focus on Golden Age scores or is there a possibility to get a rerecording of a silver age classic?

[JM] With Marco Polo, we did Malcolm Arnold’s “David Copperfield”, which I think falls into Silver Age. I wouldn’t rule anything out. There’s Goldsmith stuff i would love to do, as well as more recent scores that haven’t fared well with recordings or rerecordings. I personally drift to the Golden Age because rerecording really brings out the music’s complexity and quality that old mono recordings can’t do.

[AB] In addition to Goldsmith, we would also like to have the opportunity to record some of John William’s early scores as well.

TFC is already the third label for your film score recordings, after Marco Polo and Naxos FMC. Why did the previous series’ end and what do you mean to do different?

[JM] For Marco Polo and Naxos we worked for peanuts and never saw any royalties or payments after the initial recording. And Naxos was cutting back on how many CDs we did. Originally we did 4 per year, but the last few years, it was barely 2 per two years, so we felt the time was right to move on. Although we pretty much had a free hand with Naxos, with our own label, we only answer to ourselves. Our booklets can be more elaborate and we can pretty much do as we want. And we own the recordings, so we can license the music and eventually make the music available as downloads, and actually share in revenue we created.

[William Stromberg] Well, leaving Naxos wasn’t really our idea. I wanted to keep that series going in addition to starting our own new label. We just wanted to record more scores than Naxos was allowing, and starting our own company on the side seemed like the best way. Unfortunately, Naxos thought it was a conflict of interest and said goodbye. Well, they never actually said goodbye to me personally, but they told John to tell me. Whatever, now I’m glad we were let loose, because we can really concentrate on our own company which is already on it’s way to becoming a success for us.

Will there be releases of original scores on Tribute Film Classics or rerecording by another team?

[JM] I would never say never about original scores, but as long as I am alive, there will be no other “team”.

[WS] We will probably release some of our own film music one of these days. I would love to release some of our friends work as well. Lennie Moore’s game score that I conducted called “Outcast” would be good for instance. It’s all pretty much in the air at the moment. We’re a bit busy with Classic film music now. I never thought about another team before. We can pretty much handle it all.

Naxos was a strong partner for worldwide distribution. Did you choose the rather intimate film music community as the main target group for TFC on purpose?

[JM] Well, record stores are disappearing faster than the one legged ant, so we are in a sort of partnership with Screen Archives. They get our stuff on Amazon and some stores, but we hope we can cross over to the classical audience as we did with Naxos, although that is harder now. Of course, we would love to get this stuff out to the widest audience possible.

[AB] Starting our own record label was a venture new to Bill, John and myself.  We knew that by starting TFC this would be the only way to have complete creative freedom.  We were very fortunate to have teamed up with Screen Archives Entertainment.  For the film music genre SAE is the largest distributor for a new independent label to come on board in this industry.  Craig Spaulding at SAE has been outstanding in his support for our label.  We have followed the success of Lukas Kendall and the Film Score Monthly soundtracks and knew this was the place for us to be.  Because we fund these recordings ourselves, we rely heavily on the film music community for their support.  So far, the response has been very gratifying to us.

Do you mean to rely on direct distribution via SAE exclusivly or will you try to get the CDs in regular stores?

[AB] SAE is our distributor and main source of retail sales.  We welcome all other regular and online stores to come on board and carry our CDs anywhere in the world.  SAE will wholesale our discs out to anyone who would like to sell them in their own shops.  Of course we always recommend that everyone go to the SAE website to order our discs.  They have an impeccable reputation for quality and customer service.

How important was the financial success of Naxos releases for the change? How much CDs do the film music aficionados have to buy to keep TFC on the track? Did the first Herrmann releases meet these expectations?

[AB] Recording soundtracks can be very expensive especially since we have chosen to record scores such as Herrmann’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND that requires instrumentation consisting of eight french horn, four tubas, and four harps in addition to the standard orchestra. “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” was another mammoth score that often required six trumpets. In order to keep recording more albums we are completely dependent on selling enough albums to stay afloat.  So far, it looks like our first two initial Herrmann recordings will meet our expectations.

Will you focus on best-selling scores with Tribute? How free can you be with repertoire choice?

[AB] Bill, John and I have complete control over what repertoire we choose to record.  We plan to focus on scores that are on many collector’s wish lists including our own.  In a perfect world we would record all of our personal favorites, but in reality we must choose wisely in order to keep TFC in business in the future. 

[WS] We’ve already proved that we don’t just concentrate on best-selling scores by recording scores like “The Kentuckian” and “She”. Even back with Marco Polo, we had a reputation for recording music that isn’t considered “main-stream” such as our Friedhofer, Webb and Sainton discs. We’re probably being fool-hearty now trying to produce music for a small and diminishing niche film music market solely, but this is what we know and love. We are at the film score fan’s mercy with regard to sales. If they don’t buy, we go out of business quick, and we know it’s going to take a long time for things to balance out. We will probably need to start focusing on some scores that are both great music and good sellers.

Only some month ago you released Korngold’s “The Sea Hawk” alongside with “Deception” on Naxos. The recording ist extraordinary vivid. What was your experience with the recording of this classic?

[JM] A great experience. A superb score(s) that we did absolutely complete. It was a tough job, but the music made it all worthwhile. I would say the same for many of our recordings “Robin Hood”, “The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre”, “King Kong”, “The Egyptian”, etc.

[WS] For me, conducting Korngold is always a joy, and a challenge. We had a wonderful time recording that score as well as “The Adventures Of Robin Hood”, which was nominated for a Grammy award. Korngold is one of my favorite composers, so it was a great pleasure to bring the complete “Sea Hawk” to life. We’ve just finished recording his complete score to “The Prince and The Pauper” for TFC and that was a real treat. Every time I perform Korngold, I become a better conductor because of all the difficult twists and turns he writes into his music.

Along with the new Herrmanns, sound mixing is slightly more dynamic and direct than previous Marco Polo releases. What’s you philosophy with the music’s mix?

[JM] I always hope we present the sound that shows off the music in its best light. We like the close miking for clarity, but with hall acoustics filling in the spaces. My favorite recordings are the Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony recordings RCA did many moons ago, as well as the Solti London recordings. You hear every detail in the music, but it sounds like music and not some overdubbed nonsense.

[WS] With TFC, we’ve decided to take complete control of our recorded sound by dictating how much (or how little) reverb is added, and we insist on close microphones on all instruments for better transparency. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the sound for our first TFC recordings is different form our previous work due to the fact that we have a wonderful new recording engineer Alexander Volkov.

[AB] We have been fortunate to work with Alexander Volkov on all of our TFC recordings thus far.  Besides being an excellent editor, he knows exactly where to place the microphones and how to achieve the tight mix and recording quality that we desire.

The Golden Age brought a typically over-direct close miking to orchestral music. Do you see this as the reference for your recordings?

[WS] Yes, but we try to meet somewhere in the middle. We go for an overall huge orchestral sound, but we would like the listener to feel that they’re sitting in the same room with the orchestra. I like it when you can hear the musicians breathing, clicking keys or tapping bows on their instruments. Close microphones can give the listener a feeling of great immediacy with the players and performance.

Naxos released some of your recordings on SACD and DVD-Audio with spectacular outcome. Is this an option for Tribute as well?

[JM] SACD and DVD-AUDIO is about dead as a format, but we record our stuff in 5/1 sound so when a format comes along that will be commercially viable, we will be ready.

Thank you very much for this interview.

Jan Titel / 05.03.08