James Newton Howard: Collateral (Soundtrack)
Hip-O 000325902
Format: CD

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Collateral’s credits list James Newton Howard as the composer of the film’s score, but there isn’t much orchestral music in the soundtrack. Most of the action is punctuated by previously released music that complements the mood and intimacy of the story’s locations and characters. For instance, the mellowness of Miles Davis’s "Spanish Key" underlines Vincent’s recalling the history of the jazz great with the owner of a jazz club. Howard’s music serves to mark major plot reversals, as when Max steals Vincent’s briefcase, and at the end of the film, when Vincent’s and Max’s fates are decided during a well-directed game of cat and mouse on a New York subway. As in most compilation soundtracks, the sound quality fluctuates from track to track. Antonio Pinto’s beautiful Requiem bears a striking resemblance to Moby’s equally heartfelt "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters." As he did in Heat, director Michael Mann proves that he not only has an eye for visual drama, but an ear for the music that accompanies it….Anthony Di Marco

Nielsen: Symphony No.5
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps
Cincinnati Symphony; Paavo Järvi, conductor.
Telarc SACD-60615
Format: Hybrid Multichannel SACD

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The above ratings do not tell the whole tale. They are averages. The Stravinsky, though extremely transparent, intelligent, and lyrical, lacks the animal ferocity that conductors such as Leonard Bernstein have brought to it. The Nielsen is dynamic and bold, in addition to being lyrical and noble in character, and the first movement’s constant battle between consonant and destructive forces has seldom been better set forth. The sound is excellent. Both works exhibit a wide front stage and good use of the surrounds to establish a sense of the hall, but the Nielsen seems a smidgen closer, with better-focused string bass sound. The warm and radiant sound at the end of the work is thrilling. Compliments to the solo clarinetist in both works, for inordinately beautiful playing….Rad Bennett

Weingartner: Symphony No.1; King Lear
Basel Symphony Orchestra; Marko Letonja, conductor.
CPO 999 981-2
Format: Hybrid Multichannel SACD

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Overall Enjoyment

Felix Weingartner (1863-1941) is perhaps best known to American listeners as one of the greatest conductors of the past century, but the maestro himself always considered his major calling to be composition. He wrote music every morning, producing operas, songs, chamber music, symphonic poems, and seven symphonies. From 1927 to 1935 he was active in Basel, Switzerland, as the director of the conservatory and conductor of opera and orchestral concerts. It seems fitting that a new series devoted to recording his entire symphonic oeuvre should feature the Basel Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of its new music director, Marko Letonja.

On hearing this first release, however, one might have wished for less bloodline and sounder playing. The BSO comes across as a first-rate provincial ensemble, but not one worthy of first-class status -- any of the "new to CD" Scandinavian orchestras that have popped up like spring flowers over the past decade can play it under the table. Letonja’s interpretations of this music -- which reminds one of the music of Weingartner’s mentor, Franz Liszt -- do have style and romantic fervor, which count for a lot. The sound is adequate, if not the last word in high resolution or multichannel reproduction, and is a bit boomy and flat….Rad Bennett

The Animals: Retrospective
ABKCO 93252
Format: Hybrid Stereo SACD/CD

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Overall Enjoyment

Herman’s Hermits: Retrospective
ABKCO 92282
Format: Hybrid Stereo SACD/CD

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Overall Enjoyment

The 48 songs on these two discs are easily found on other Animals and Herman’s Hermits greatest-hits collections, of which there are many. Why, then, would anyone be interested in these new releases? Well, for the greatly improved sound, courtesy of Bob Ludwig of Gateway Mastering, who mastered both collections for hybrid SACD. Consequently, the sound is similar to that of ABKCO’s Rolling Stones and Columbia’s Bob Dylan hybrid SACD releases: definitive. In strictest audiophile terms, these recordings sound crisp and lean, and any harshness on the master tapes is not glossed over. The surprising amount of bass imparts a sense of sonic completeness that those of us used to hearing this music on AM radio will find endearing. Even if you have all of these songs on other albums, you haven’t really heard them until you’ve experienced the archival-quality sound of these discs….Marc Mickelson

Dion: Live in Concert
Image 2601
Format: DVD-Video

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Picture Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Dion who? No, not the 1990s pop diva surnamed Dion, but Dion DiMucci, the musician who successfully combined elements of rock’n’roll, doo-wop, and roots and blues into such classics as "I Wonder Why," "The Wanderer," and "Ruby Baby." I never knew much about the man, but two songs into this well-produced DVD and there was no mistaking the quality of music, or Dion’s influence on modern rock’n’roll. This live concert film successfully juxtaposes Dion playing guitar and ruminating about his past and Dion expertly performing some blissfully intoxicating pop-rock with his accomplished bandmates. The performance smacks of talent and technical acuity. DiMucci and his partners in song never miss a beat or perform at a level that drops below rhythmic perfection. The DVD treatment exhibits excellent video resolution, with very little apparent noise and excellent color saturation. The audio quality is marred by a slightly high noise floor and obvious dynamic compression. If you didn’t know Dion before now, it’s time to give this classic act a listen….Anthony Di Marco