Search - Georges Auric :: Georges Auric: Beauty and the Beast

One of the Great Film Scores in a Splendid New Recording

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 02/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a reissue at budget price of a glorious recording of this score done for Marco Polo ten years or so ago. Georges Auric (1899-1983) was one of 'Les Six' and is usually considered as one of the lesser of them. Part of the reason for this, I suspect, is that he turned to composing film scores--he wrote scores for 40 French, 40 American, and 15 British films--rather than concentrating primarily on concert works. But this score, for one of the most famous films in history -- Jean Cocteau's 'La Belle et la Bête' ('Beauty and the Beast') which starred Josette Day as Beauty and introduced Jean Marais as Beast/Prince -- is a masterpiece, plain and simple. I've always hoped that the score might be adapted as a ballet, which might give it greater currency. But Auric's score was lost, only to be found in the early 1990s by the present conductor (and film score maven), the single-named Adriano. Some music that had been cut from the film is recorded here, but basically this is what one hears when viewing the film. In the film it was conducted beautifully by the great Roger Desormière but the film's sound, from 1946, is nothing compared to this current performance in modern sound. We are indeed fortunate to have a modern recording of this lushly romantic music.



The score, running about an hour, contains twenty-four musical cues. Auric's style, a kind of romantic impressionism, is based largely on that of the Impressionists, mostly Ravel. His use of wordless chorus (both open- and closed-mouthed) is reminiscent of the latter's 'Daphnis et Chloë,' but there are also Debussyan spots, as in 'Les couloirs mystérieux' ('Mysterious corridors') with its blurry harmonies. Auric's orchestration is among the most brilliant and inventive in all of film music history. Some cues are scored like chamber music (e.g., 'Dans la chambre à coucher' ['In the bedroom'] or 'L'attente' ['Waiting']) for reduced strings without double basses. Others are brilliantly scored for large orchestra, including a multitude of tuned percussion (glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, celesta, piano). A real tour de force.



In an act of misbegotten homage, Philip Glass composed an opera to run WITH the film, with the sound turned off (which, of course, meant that not only Josette Day's and Jean Marais's distinctive voices went unheard, but Auric's score was muted). It is SO nice to have a modern recording of the music that really goes with the film. Needless to say, Adriano and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra do a marvelous job.



In case you couldn't tell by now, this is a rave recommendation for both the music and the recording.



TT=62:08



Scott Morrison"

An Unexpected Treasure

J. A. Retzer | Phoenix, AZ | 01/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In all honesty I have to confess that I actually do not like the film itself. I must then qualify that by clarifying that I cannot get past Beast's voice or the fact that Jean Marais simply wasn't very handsome in the end.



I love the look and feel of the film, the surreal dreamlike quality Cocteau infused throughout and Josette Day's under-rated performance -to say nothing of the outstanding makeup job on Beast.



All that said, I could not remember so much as one note of music in the entire film. However, since I am familiar with the Marco Polo/Naxos film score re-recording projects and the unsurpassed job they have done restoring neglected and under-appreciated films scores, returning them to their deserved place before the listening public, I figured this would be a 50/50 gamble, leaning in favor of the score.



I could not have been more pleased. I was hooked within the first 30 secords. Auric's score promenades like a concert work in full sail. The orchestratations are varied and often surprising, the chorus is mysterious and unexpected at times -but always, every twist and flourish is completely right. Everything fits, everything works.



The score may not have been memorable to me within the film, but this CD now has a spot in my permanant collection. As a previous poster has commented, this score will definitely appear to fans of concert works as well as film music buffs."