By Oyster

An unusually long title for a CD title. What's more unusual is that since my purchase, I've listened to it back to back twice in two days. This is quite a record considering the "remote trigger-happy" me who treasures every minute of his listening time and not the least patience for weaker songs.

So, what's so SPECIAL about this one? An all western music outfit interpreting Chinese music? Nothing new considering John Michel Jarre did that many moons ago when he first toured China (1980?) and played a lovely rendition of "The Fisherman Song" mixing electronics with traditional Chinese instruments (with enchanting results). Perhaps, it is the heavyweight behind this production. Rock Records (Taiwan) got hold of James Fitzpatrick (production), whose work include Titanic; two conductors Mike Townend and Nic Rained and an Orchestra that's no stranger to followers of Original Soundtrack music. The City of Prague Philharmonic has over 40 albums of classic films under their belt including the contemporary themes for films like "Independence Day", "The Rock", "Twister" etc. So, this is serious stuff.

There are 4 different persons arranging the 12 tunes giving it a good mix of styles and influences to the original scores. If you are a Chinese movie buff, movie titles such as "A City of Sadness", "Red Rose, White Rose", "A Chinese Ghost Story" and "Farewell to my Concubine" should readily ring a bell. In my opinion, a befitting Chinese classic movie to the treatment it is receiving.

The western touch is surprisingly good but retaining the Chinese feel (although some arrangements sounded fairly New Age) and never sounding heavy (like Kunzel Boston...). The arrangement is fresh, lively and yet remaining faithful to the original composition. Outstanding track include #8 "Swordsman - Blue Sea Laughter" that kicks off with Zjeng and bells and a lively and playful flute solo. Then came a wave of string instruments reminiscent of the scene where Sam Hui's bubbly character was crossing the river in a boat singing cheerfully. Fans of the string section wouldn't be disappointed, as this is one of the star instruments of this recording. Percussion is on the polite side and there are no big brass or horns sections. Regrettably, there's no mention of the Orchestra members to give credit to but nevertheless, the violin is played with such emotion that becomes infectious.

Warning!!! Goosebumps and mood swing if continuous listening.

The full orchestra sound adds ambience, colour and weight to the already beautiful original score. If you are familiar with the movie, these themes would bring you back in time to the scenes, the mood, the story, the casts etc. If you are not familiar, never mind, I trust you would still enjoy these award winning movie themes.

Production wise, this is top notch. This recording is HDCD and dolby surround treated. Although it is not another Mega Movies production, it is close. The recording does justice to the music embedded and is clean, clear and musical without the common illness of typical pop Chinese recording - clinical, thin and no bottom. The CD has both Chinese and English translation of the songs titles, key players (producer, conductor and the Orchestra). Of course, being a Taiwanese production, there are addition Chinese sleeve notes and lyrics to help anyone to hum along.

Is there room for improvement? Well, I would say that at the climax of certain pieces, a dosage of bigger drums and daring cymbals could bring a better effect. A slight lack of bite, I should say. Perhaps, this is consistent with the overall light classic theme and mood. The soundstage could be a tad deeper as you would expect an Orchestra to be felt. Here I go again, comparing to Mega Movies... my apology.

There is a part 2 to this recording (the whole works comprise of 24 tunes) but I read that it is far inferior to Theme 1. Perhaps, most of the suitable (class A) materials have been used. In fact, one HK audio magazine pointed that only the last 3 tracks are worthy of a comparison to the first collection. Would 3 tracks be enticing enough to buy? I'm not sure, but there're folks who would buy a CD for just one song.