This collection brilliantly showcases Rosza’s strengths, which ranged from historical pageants like Ivanhoe, fantasy epics like Knights of the Round Table, The Thief of Baghdad, and The Jungle Book, and of course, those dark, brooding “film noir” classics typified by The Lost Weekend (represented by an extended suite). Remarkably, Rosza’s personality shines through all of this music just as it does for Korngold and Waxman. Much of the music has a distinctly Hungarian inflection that is here universalized to produce a moody, passionate, and often exotic idiom (witness The Thief of Baghdad) quite different from the work of the Viennese film composers active in Hollywood at the same time. As with other releases in this series, the performances are stupendously vivid, the sonics brilliant and lush. Available “on demand” from Arkivmusic.com, this is another mandatory acquisition for film music buffs. [7/7/2008]
