London Symphony Orchestra - Star Wars/Close Encounters Of The Third Kind/ET (Orchestral Suites And Music) (CD 1999)

Being a great fan of the music of John Williams and his stunning partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra, I jumped at the chance to purchase this cd.

The music of Star Wars, E.T. and Close Encounters are some of the greatest scores ever written and they are played very well on this cd. The cd mentions that the music was originally written as suites, however if you know the soundtracks you know this might not be true.

The recording is a little too bright for my liking and the placing of the microphones highlight some sections of the orchestra more than others and sometimes swamp the main lines and themes. The arrangements are not by John Williams and the arranger is not mentioned so it may be the conductor on the disc Frank Barber.

They are similar to the originals but with some slight orchestral tweaks, different registers and instruments being used however the playing especially Star Wars and E.T. are brilliant. The brass section of the L.S.O simply shine through some of the lackluster and slow tempi suites almost egging the conductor to move it on a little.

This is a great cd for anyone wanting to listen to great film music at a bargain price and hopefully might lead them on to searching out the originals and just see what a difference there is. But saying that, I have really enjoyed this cd however would advise film music buffs that they may not like this offering. But then again good music is always good music!