Miklós Rózsa

The Epic Film Music of Miklos Rozsa is an expanded version of the kind of soundtrack compilations that were available in the 1960s. Allowing for the fact that most of the Rozsa scores represented would stand up well on their own, this is a good survey of his work in the genre, especially for neophyte listeners. It is questionable, however, whether The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Beau Brummell, and All the Brothers Were Valiant really are epics; the core of the hour's worth of music on this album is derived from such epics as Quo Vadis, Ben-Hur, El Cid, King of Kings, and Madame Bovary, and the material from the other films and their scores really fits more easily into other genres. Kenneth Alwyn does a decent job of conducting, and the music is well represented -- the scope and majesty, as well as the complex expressiveness and stylistic density of Rozsa's music, come through. The only drawback is that much of the music represented here is now available on individual full-length recordings. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide