The Taming of the Shrew

『じゃじゃ馬ならし』(1967年 アメリカ・イタリア合作 / 監督 フランコ・ゼフィレッリ / 音楽 ニーノ・ロータ / 出演 マイケル・ヨーク、エリザベス・テイラー、リチャード・バートン)のサウンドトラック2枚組

Nino Rota's "other" great Shakespearean film score for director Franco Zeffirelli (his work on Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet having achieved far greater prominence along with the movie itself), The Taming of the Shrew was neglected for the first 30 years of its existence. When a soundtrack album was issued, the music shared the spotlight with elements of dialogue by the two stars, to the disadvantage of the composer and the score. DRG has retrieved the original soundtrack recordings for the film, by conductor Carlo Savina, and mastered them for this CD release, which makes up for 30 years of abuse. The musical textures are startlingly vivid, considering that none of what's here was ever supposed to stand on its own on playback -- and for the first time one can also take in the composer's unbridled wit and charm, as well as the superb playing by the musicians. The annotation is also extremely thorough, the 16-page booklet giving the best account yet of the production and history of the score and the movie for which it was written. ~ Bruce Eder