Shangri-La, the utopia of James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon, had a powerful grip on the world’s imagination in the dystopian 1930s. Frank Capra achieved his cinematic vision of this mystic land of peace and contentment (Columbia Pictures, 1937) in no small measure by engaging Ukrainian composer Dimitri Tiomkin (1984-1979) in the first of their many collaborations. Tiomkin was a master at using melody–whether his own sweet themes or familiar traditional tunes–to carry a film’s emotions. A suite from his score is the main work on this 1989 CD remastering of a 1974 LP entry in the legendary RCA Classic Film Scores series, now restored to availability via Arkivmusic’s “on-demand” re-publishing program.
Like everything in that series (conducted by Charles Gerhardt, produced by George Korngold, and recorded by Kenneth Wilkinson), this re-release is mandatory for film music devotees and cannot be too strongly recommended to the general fan of classical orchestral music. Tiomkin’s score features entrancing bell-sounds and a lovely processional theme to evoke Shangri-La, and contrasts these with the hurly-burly of the real world and the various emotions of the Westerners who find themselves shanghai-ed to paradise. Also included on the disc are shorter selections from five films of widely varying genres: war, western (the type of film that dominates Tiomkin’s output), romantic comedy, a family drama, and a Cinerama travelogue.
The performances are masterful, made at a time when the National Philharmonic Orchestra and the John Alldis Choir comprised some of London’s best classical session musicians and singers. The sound of the original LP was stunning, and gorgeous as it still is on this CD, listeners who remember the original will notice just a bit less presence, less “shimmer” in the effect of the 22-member bell ensemble. Meanwhile, Sony/BMG should seriously consider making SACD versions of this and other “Classic Film Score” masters that were recorded in Quadraphonic sound.
