Korngold: The Adventures of Robin Hood (CD review)

William Stromberg, Moscow Symphony Orchestra.  Marco Polo 8.225268.

There is little doubt that Warner Brothers' 1938 production of The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn is one of the screen's classic adventures, nor that Erich Wolfgang Korngold's epic music helps the movie immeasurably. What's surprising is that up until recently we have never had a recording of the complete score, only a few minutes worth of the famous "March of the Merry Men" or at best a fifteen-minute suite. Fortunately, composer and restorer John Morgan, conductor William Stromberg, and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra rectify this situation with their recording of every shred of music in the movie, over seventy-eight minutes worth.

Fortunately, too, Stromberg and company, by now old hands at this sort of thing, play the music with verve and commitment. The music is so vivid and so engaging, and the playing is so enthusiastic, listening to it is like watching the movie all over again. Stromberg and Marco Polo have given us a whole string of reconstructed film scores over the past few years, and this one joins the very best of them, if not surpassing my favorite, Max Steiner's Treasure of the Sierra Madre, then at least coming close.

Korngold was primarily a symphonist and writer of operas, but he spent much time in Hollywood as well. He would surpass himself a year or two later with music for The Sea Hawk, but the music for Robin Hood is plenty good. What's more, presented complete it comprises a wonderfully seamless whole, despite the fact that it is obviously made up of a number of tiny bits and pieces describing and bridging the film's various characters and scenes. As such, it sets a good deal of the mood for the swashbuckling action it accompanies and does so with an easy charm, grace, and wit that make for comfortable listening.

The disc is divided into twenty-five tracks for easy reference, and it comes accompanied by an exhaustive twenty-eight page booklet insert of notes covering everything from Korngold's life and music through the making of the movie itself. Moreover, Marco Polo's sound is up to the task of conveying all of the story's musical derring-do clearly and dynamically. It's really quite the complete package.

With Warner Brothers having released a gorgeously restored transfer of The Adventures of Robin Hood on DVD and Blu-ray, this new CD of the complete film score complements it perfectly. Wonderful stuff.

JJP