[Nick Zwar]

My first Miklós Rózsa album was “Miklós Rózsa – Classic Film Music”, Elmer Bernstein conducting the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. It was also the first CD I ever bought in a store. I didn’t have a CD player back then, but the album was available as a beautiful double LP set or a a single CD… they contained the same tracks and cost the same (at that time, CDs were more expensive than LPs, but since it was two LPs but only one CD, they cost the same.) So I picked the “future proof” CD, even though I had no way to playback the CD then. I bought quite a few more CDs before I ever bought a CD player. (I always buy “software” before “hardware”.) So that album holds a special place in my heart.

But back to business… when you ask about my 5 favorite Miklós Rózsa albums, it starts for me with Rhino’s lavish presentation of BEN HUR. Surely, that is one of the most beautiful soundtrack albums ever produced. It’s just gorgeous, like a book (and it does have a nice booklet). Sure, there was the more extensive presentation by FSM, which featured various additional presentations of the music, and Tadlow’s wonderful new 2CD recording of the score, but as far as presentation goes, the Rhino set wins.
It really is one of the most beautiful presentations of one of the greatest film scores to one of the greatest films of all time… so I’d say the superlatives are justified. Just all around great.

But since you asked for five favorite albums, let’s see… right now I’d pick

1. BEN HUR (Rhino 2CD set)
(I have the Tadlow and the FSM as well, and they are all fine. But the Rhino set in its day (1995?) was a real beauty to behold… a stunning, beautifully produced 2CD set.)

2. DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE LOST WEEKEND, THE KILLERS / Sedares: NZSO (Koch)
This is a wonderful album. Each score is presented as a three movement composition, expertly arranged. The scores here all belong to Rózsa’s darker “noir” works. Especially LOST WEEKEND may the the closest Rózsa ever came to write a horror score. Good stuff.

3. EL CID (Nic Raine: CPPO, Tadlow)
Just a great recording of perhaps my favorite Rózsa score. I also love Sedares on disc presentation, but Tadlow’s set is just splendid.

4. JULIUS CAESAR (Bruce Broughton: SoL, Intrada)
Wow, does this thing sound great. Was a big deal when it was released, new recordings of classic film scores were rare in those days.

5. THE RED HOUSE (Wilson: RSNO, Intrada)
May be the most impressionist score Rózsa ever wrote. There is a haunting melancholy weaving through the score, this is one of Rózsa’s must beautiful pieces of music. Never saw the movie, but the music sure stands well on it’s own. Rózsa was of course the most “romantic” of all film composers, but here, his music style seems to take a hint or two from Debussy and Ravel, which makes for a very inspiring sound.