This CD documents a series of concerts given in Rome in 1998, which I have no doubt were quite satisfying to the audiences in attendance. But when these bits and snippets, mostly main titles, are taken as recorded performances and compared to the originals, they pale. Sometimes it’s a re-scoring that’s at fault, such as replacing the twangy solo guitar in Once Upon A Time in The West with a string quartet; while sometimes it’s just that the new approach isn’t as pithy or piquant as the original, as in the music from Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion. By and large, these recreations sound scrubbed and dressed up to be presented in the concert hall, having lost any excitement or passion in the process. One wonders about the sound, too. The notes say live, though there is no audience noise or applause, but the frequency range seems somewhat limited, the stereo stage narrow, and there’s even some congestion in places where the chorus joins the full orchestra. In 1995, Rhino Records issued a Morricone compilation of excerpts from original soundtracks that contained 43 cues on its two CDs, and most (but admittedly not all) of the important ones that are on this current collection. If you can find it, look for that recording, as it honors Morricone far more than this pallid issue.
