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Since the 1960s, Henry Mancini's most popular film and television music has been regularly available on LPs and CDs, most notably from RCA. Indeed, the popular themes from Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, and The Days of Wine and Roses, as well as the song "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's and the instrumental Baby Elephant Walk from Hatari, are essential items on all of Mancini's greatest-hits collections, just as they are on this Naxos disc by Richard Hayman and his Symphony Orchestra. Apart from these classics, though, secondary selections can vary as widely as Mancini's prolific output did, both in his own copious compilations and in Hayman's broad but shallow survey. With less familiar diversions taking up valuable space, such as Dream of a Lifetime or Ballerina's Dream, and non-essential filler such as The Great Race March, Pie in the Face Polka, Drummer's Delight, and March with Mancini, Hayman's collection seems skimpy and scattered, especially when compared with any of Mancini's more generous and substantial albums. Though it amounts to a retrospective, it conveys little sense of what makes this music worth playing and gives undue attention to some trifles. As a pro in the easy listening field, Hayman surely means to appeal to a general audience, not necessarily to satisfy collectors, who would do well to stick with the original recordings anyway. In terms of the performances, Hayman and his ensemble bring an energetic pops concert feeling to the best-known selections and try to make the weaker offerings at least amusing or touching, though with indifferent results. These musicians are competing with memorable recordings that make unflattering comparisons inevitable, and their slick but uninspired album comes off as inferior in a match-up with RCA's 1993 Best of Mancini, or the 2000 compendium Henry Mancini's Greatest Hits, either of which is preferable for the exciting and colorful performances under the composer's direction. Originally recorded in 1990 and reissued in 2006, this disc has good reproduction and depth, though the Concert Hall of the Slovak Radio, Bratislava, lends this music a bit too much resonance.
© TiVo
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Peter Gunn (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Breakfast at Tiffany's: Moon River (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Hatari!: Baby Elephant Walk (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Strings On Fire (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Dear Heart (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Dream of a Lifetime (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Great Race: Pie-in-the-Face Polka (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Days of Wine and Roses (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Pink Panther (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
2 For the Road (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Great Race: Pie-in-the-Face Polka (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Ballerina's Dream (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Life Force: Theme (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Glass Menagerie (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Charade (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Beaver Valley '37 Suite (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Drummer's Delight (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Thorn Birds (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
March with Mancini (arr. R. Hayman) (Henry Mancini)
Henry Mancini, Composer - Richard Hayman, Composer, Conductor - Richard Hayman Orchestra, Orchestra
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Album review
Since the 1960s, Henry Mancini's most popular film and television music has been regularly available on LPs and CDs, most notably from RCA. Indeed, the popular themes from Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, and The Days of Wine and Roses, as well as the song "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's and the instrumental Baby Elephant Walk from Hatari, are essential items on all of Mancini's greatest-hits collections, just as they are on this Naxos disc by Richard Hayman and his Symphony Orchestra. Apart from these classics, though, secondary selections can vary as widely as Mancini's prolific output did, both in his own copious compilations and in Hayman's broad but shallow survey. With less familiar diversions taking up valuable space, such as Dream of a Lifetime or Ballerina's Dream, and non-essential filler such as The Great Race March, Pie in the Face Polka, Drummer's Delight, and March with Mancini, Hayman's collection seems skimpy and scattered, especially when compared with any of Mancini's more generous and substantial albums. Though it amounts to a retrospective, it conveys little sense of what makes this music worth playing and gives undue attention to some trifles. As a pro in the easy listening field, Hayman surely means to appeal to a general audience, not necessarily to satisfy collectors, who would do well to stick with the original recordings anyway. In terms of the performances, Hayman and his ensemble bring an energetic pops concert feeling to the best-known selections and try to make the weaker offerings at least amusing or touching, though with indifferent results. These musicians are competing with memorable recordings that make unflattering comparisons inevitable, and their slick but uninspired album comes off as inferior in a match-up with RCA's 1993 Best of Mancini, or the 2000 compendium Henry Mancini's Greatest Hits, either of which is preferable for the exciting and colorful performances under the composer's direction. Originally recorded in 1990 and reissued in 2006, this disc has good reproduction and depth, though the Concert Hall of the Slovak Radio, Bratislava, lends this music a bit too much resonance.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 21 track(s)
- Total length: 01:14:44
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Richard Hayman
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Naxos
- Genre: Classical
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
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