Search - Francis Lai :: Dark Eyes (aka Ochi Chyornye) (1987 Film)

Francis Lai but not exactly what you might be expecting!

W. Gima | Honolulu, HI | 02/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Truly, Francis Lai is one of the great theme composers of our time. For the Francis Lai fanatics out there, his compositions for "Dark Eyes" maintain that unique signature that always makes his music memorable.The orchestra on this cd is not conducted by the master himself but by Christian Gaubert. Of the 17 songs here, 9 are by Lai, 1 is a collaboration between Lai and Gaubert, 2 are by Dimitiri Bouzylev (Tzigane 2 and Liuli Liuli), 4 classical pieces from Strauss (The Great Waltz), Mozart (Sonata En Si Bemol), Lehar (The Blue Danube) and Rossini (Una Voce Poco Fa aka The Barber Of Seville) and an Italian folk song ( Ninna Nanna).The information on this disc is sparse and either incorrect or missing. For instance, they list Laurent Ferlet as the "vocalist" on Sonata En Si Bemol but no vocals exist on this piano solo. Did they mean pianist? The following song,The Blue Danube, has an uncredited vocalist. Was Ferlet supposed to be listed here? Vocals do exist on the two rousing Russian folksong-like compostions by Bouzylev but no mention is made of who the group or the male singer is. The other two vocals (Maglai Damonte on Una Voca Poco Fa and Marie Rodgers on Ninna Nanna are properly listed. A total of five vocals on this cd but none on the Lai compositions.Overall the clarity of the music comes through well but there is noticable hiss and what occasionally sounds like record clicks and pops (:59 into Ninna Nanna)! Was this mastered from an LP? Well, better than not to have it available like many of the other Francis Lai soundtracks.This cd was copyrighted 1987 by Lem America.Do I recommend this cd even though only about 60% of the songs are by Francis Lai? If you're a Francis Lai fanactic, that answer is a resounding YES!There is an offical Francis Lai site
...On this site, it mentions the impending release of a 15 volume retrospective of Francis Lai's career including many songs unavailable on CD...Check it out."