The Adventures of Robin Hood
Reviewed by Jonathan Shearon
November 1, 2003

I don't know what else I could say about The Adventures of Robin Hood that hasn’t already been said a hundred times over. Suffice it to say that it is arguably the finest film adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, and certainly one of Korngold’s landmark achievements. The fact that there hasn’t been a decent recording of it on CD until now (excepting of course Varese Sarabande’s fine edition from 1988 that was a terrific effort but unfortunately incomplete) speaks volumes about the sorry state of many classic scores and the low regard film studios seem to have for what should be their most treasured properties. Leave it to John Morgan, William Stromberg and the good folks at Marco Polo to save the day with a superb re-recording that brims with vitality and reminds us why we love this music so much.

The thing that always thrilled me most about Korngold’s score is its unabashed exuberance. As you listen to the music you can almost see that devilish smile that Errol Flynn wears throughout the film from the opening march/fanfare to the closing moments of the end credits. Unlike many of the modern translations, such as the well crafted but oppressively dark Kevin Costner version, this version of the film is unencumbered by the baggage of irony and revels in its innocence and sense of fun. It’s a film that wears its emotions and intentions on its proverbial sleeve and is the obvious inspiration for legions of neo-romantic scores like Star Wars, and most of the rest of John Williams catalog for that matter (listen to orchestration in the cues “Jolly Friendship” and “The Battle-The Duel-The Victory” and you’ll get a particularly good idea of what I’m talking about).

Robin Hood is one of Korngold’s more “European” scores in that it isn’t the simplified orchestrations and overtly homophonic texture that most of the rest of Hollywood was writing at the time. This is heavily contrapuntal and demanding music that requires a capable orchestra, and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra under the baton of William Stromberg is clearly up to the task. Their playing is vibrant from beginning to end and they approach the music with a seriousness and earnestness that serves the composition well. The resplendent sound recording from engineer Genadiy Papin is also to be highly commended. So often with re-recordings, sound engineers approach the music as they would a traditional classical composition, but here wonderfully precise close-miking is employed that allows all of the orchestral voices to break through the dense texture as they are called upon. We get an enormously full sound without the muddiness that has plagued other such recordings. Even the smallest details are given the utmost attention: the whistle in “Robin Hood Meets Little John” for instance.

One of the real revelations for me of this new recording are the slower, more poignant moments that I had somehow always glossed over in favor of the score’s abundant action-oriented bombast. Obviously inspired by what was on screen, the maestro is celebrating all that is potentially good, noble and just in man, something far too lacking in today’s black-hearted films. There are repeated moments of stunning beauty here that Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony manage to tease out gracefully, such as the gorgeously noble “The Poor People” and the achingly romantic “Love Scene”. Korngold was a symphonist at heart and Robin Hood is a testament to his ability to weave music that is both moving and exciting on a grand scale into the same score.

If it sounds like I’ve turned into a gushing fanboy over this one, it’s because I have. If that makes me an impartial critic so be it…the praise for this Morgan/Stromberg outing is well deserved. This is the kind of joyful, rapturous music that made me want to listen to every film score I could get my hands on as a kid. Whether you’re an old collector who’s been waiting for this release for a long time or a Young Turk like myself who was reared on Williams and Goldsmith, there is something here for everyone. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest dealer and buy this CD now. I don’t think you can call yourself a serious film music collector unless this disc is on your shelf and, more importantly, frequently in your player.

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