Silva Screen Records released a 2 CD of the 3 movies performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic. Would anyone who owns it like to comment on it.

If you like the Silva sonics, this one is typical of their work. I personally cannot stand the metallic strings, obnoxiously acid farting brass and dry-with-fake-reverb percussion.

That having been said, it's a very good effort... believe it or not. I would not use the term "compilation". A compilation implies a close relation to the original soundtrack. If seen as such, the Silva rerecording would be a miserable failure.

However, as a symphony-style rerecording, it's one of the best ones ever done, not just of Lord of the Rings, but ever. There is a sense that the people at Silva realised they couldn't match the OST in some aspects, so they took a completely different road. Instead of rerecording excerpts from a film score, they made it sound like they just rerecorded a massive symphonic poem. What always bothered me with Shore's original score, is precisely that it always sounded like a basic film score - it fit the images fantastically, but fell flat on CD.

Silva's effort goes beyond that. It sounds like a mature symphonic work being given it's world-premiere recording.
The songs have become instrumental versions, which adds much more coherence to the work as a stand-alone listening experience.
Some of the vocals featured on the OST have been replaced with a more operatic arrangement. Again it works much better on CD, and makes the score more coherent.

Sure, it would have been nicer to have some more subtle nuances, better orchestral colours, a natural dynamic range... Instead we get the typical always-loud Prague crap. There's none of the refinement one finds in a first class orchestra, but I find Silva's symphonic suite to be much better than the OST.
Truth be told, I've listened more often to the Silva, than to the OSTs. If I had to lose the CDs, I wouldn't miss the OSTs, but I would miss the Silva.

I suppose the Silva could be considered as the unofficial LOTR Symphony recording. At least until we get Shore's recording (excluding the "Making of" DVD).

I'd give it ****/*****

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There is a sense that the people at Silva realised they couldn't match the OST in some aspects, so they took a completely different road

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This is actually a good thing in this case because people who buy it are probably those who really like the originals and wanted something slightly different. I believe Silva realize this, especially since they intentional give some of us fans what we wanted: songs from the movies without the vocal.

Based on your review ( I take it as very positive ), I think they accomplished that.

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Some of the vocals featured on the OST have been replaced with a more operatic arrangement

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Clarify? I think I know what you mean but having a tough time imagining the sound of it.

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Originally posted by Luc:
Clarify? I think I know what you mean but having a tough time imagining the sound of it.

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Mostly I was thinking of Charlotte Kinder who, on the Silva, replaces Isabel Bayrakdarian and Renée Fleming from the OSTs.
Kinder's sounds like a fuller, deeper voice coming from deeper in the throat that those of Bayrakdarian and Fleming who sound a little like canaries. Kinder seems like she can project louder and farther with less effort. Whether that's actually the case remains to be seen in the opera house. But it's certainly the impression I get.

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Thank god for Zimmer then.

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Agreed.
I thought King Arthur was one of the only two 2004 scores worth playing more than once. Last Samurai was really nice too, though that was 2003 I think.

* The instrumental versions of May it Be, Gollum's Song and Into the West. The solo instruments are lovely, though I do wish the Fellowship theme coda of May it Be had been cut and the Into the West coda had not.

* Twilight and Shadow and Evenstar - the vocals are performed excellently, and the orchestra is mostly on the mark here. As well the mix brings out details which are less obvious in the film and OST album.

* Shore's manipulation of the Rohan theme in 'The Fields of the Pelennor' is more evident in the performance here.

* Prophecy is handled with some skill, the slower tempo really adding something to the piece, and the mix again favors the writing by making the two choral accents on the climax of the piece more obvious.

However there are some severe problems:

* Performances of the Isengard theme are laughable. The heavily percussive sections come out poorly overall - the opening of Riders of Rohan being another standout.

* The main theme of the films is not performed at all. This is the History of the Ring theme.

* The looping of material into 'The Return of the King' is a poor way to draw the CD out onto a second disc.

* The vocal performances are largely less effective than the original performers, in some cases very obviously. The new vocal performances of the Lament for Gandalf, Gollum's Song and Into the West are a waste of disc time.

* There are changes in tempo in a lot of pieces that can't be confused for artistic choices - it's an orchestra that simply has not rehearsed enough or is intrinsically not good enough to pull off Shore's material. John Barry performances are fine, but a lot of this material is over the heads of this performing group - no wonder they didn't take a crack at 'The End of All Things'.

Mostly of interest to diehard fans of the music, or to someone who hasn't heard any of it. I think for both, the alternative mixing choices are attractive. To an ingenue, I think this mix will make the scores more exciting, though a familiar listener will never be able to forget the Royal Philharmonic (or in my case, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra), who gave a perfectly balanced performance of demanding passages like 'Forth Eorlingas' and 'Isengard Unleashed'.

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Thank god for Zimmer then.
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Agreed.
I thought King Arthur was one of the only two 2004 scores worth playing more than once. Last Samurai was really nice too, though that was 2003 I think.

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Another Zimmer fan here so we can thank god for both of them .

Favorite scores for the past few years:

LOTR
King Arthur
Last Samurai