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Editorial Reviews

Arrrgh, Mateys! Captain Erich Kunzel has donned his tri-cornered hat and led that landlubbing Cincinnati Pops through some of the key atmospheric music known from seafaring film fare in Telarc's Masters and Commanders: Music from Seafaring Film Classics. As is expected from Telarc and Cincinnati, the sound is big -- wide-screen Technicolor big. In terms of selection, there aren't too many of the big-screen seagoing classics that Kunzel and Cincinnati are missing. Here one may find music from Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, and The Buccaneer, not to mention oddities such as Franz Waxman's Overture to Anne of the Indies and Morton Gould's "Main Title" to Windjammer, a film no one has seen in 50 years. Overall, music from 14 different sea epics is included, and that means the selection is spread mighty thin -- the longest bit is the Suite from Waxman's "Captains Courageous," which times in at a mere 5:37. The upside is that Masters and Commanders: Music from Seafaring Film Classics offers variety aplenty; one is struck as to what a fine score greenhorn composer Klaus Badelt contributed to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl that perhaps wouldn't have been the case if one were to experience it on its own terms. Cincinnati almost seems to have a firmer grip on the sound of movie music than the Los Angeles Philharmonic does, and that's odd, as many of the same musicians who play in L.A. also work in the nearby movie studios. For those who "aske deepe waters," are thrilled by the sight of billowing sails and favor perhaps an eye patch and cutlass, Telarc's Masters and Commanders: Music from Seafaring Film Classics will provide a hearty helping of salty sea air. Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

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