Music Album Review: 'Cinema Serenade'




On July 29, 1997, Sony Masterworks released Cinema Serenade, the first of two post Schindler's List movie themed albums featuring the collaborative team of violinist Itzhak Perlman and Oscar-winning composer John Williams. 

Film scores have been a passion of mine since I first heard Williams' unforgettable score for Star Wars at the age of 14. Since then I have become acutely aware of movie themes and orchestral music's ability to affect one's perceptions and emotions. As a result, my musical collection includes many CDs of music by composers such as James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith and, of course, maestro Williams.

Cinema Serenade, featuring acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman, John Williams and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, is a beautiful 13-track collection of movie themes by various notable composers, including  Quincy Jones, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Luis Bonfa, Andre Previn and, of course, Williams.




Because the featured solo instrument is a violin, producer John Frost, Williams and Perlman chose themes that, with the exception of the Carlos Gardel tango "Por Una Cabeza" (heard in Scent of a Woman) and Williams' Irish-styled "Theme from Far and Away," are sentimental, stately and even melancholic. Listen to the plaintive "Papa Can You Hear Me?" from Yentl or "Theme from Schindler's List" (both evocative of European Jewish music), or the haunting "I Will Wait For You" from Michel Legrand's score The Umbrellas of Cherbourg with closed eyes and an open heart...I don't think there is anything more moving than Perlman's performance of those beautiful themes.



Williams conducts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with his usual golden touch, and although some of the arrangements in this CD have been tweaked to highlight Perlman's violin, the effect is not at all detrimental. Indeed, this is one of the best albums of the genre. Along with Cinema Serenade II: The Golden Age, it is a must-have CD for both lovers of classic film scores and classical music.



Track List

1. The Color Purple: Main Title 4:29

2. Scent of A Woman: Tango (Por Una Cabeza) 3:51

3. Yentl: “Papa, Can you Hear Me?”  4:59

4. Il Postino: Theme  3:44

5. The Age of Innocence: Theme 4:10

6. Far and Away: Theme 5:34

7. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: “I Will Wait for You” 3:43

8. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Theme  3:40

9. Sabrina: Theme  4:58

10. Out of Africa: Main Title  3:19

11. Black Orpheus: Manha de Carnaval  4:13

12.  Schindler's List: Theme  3:18

13.  Cinema Paradiso: Love Theme  3:18

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