The Agony And The Ecstasy (1965 Film - 1997 Score Rerecording)
Under Jerry Goldsmith's baton, Alex North's soundtrack for Carol Reed's 1965 film about the life and artistic conflicts of Michelangelo gets a second wind. North's epic sweep and his mixture of Renaissance musical forms, somber religious chords, plainsong melody, and march beats congeal into a symphonic grandeur faithful to the film's equally larger-than-life subject matter--inspiration's heavenly spark. Like the story, the creative energy needed to make this music has its own divine conflicts. North was already challenged by composing in the shadow of the great painter; Goldsmith, who in turn subordinates himself to reworking another composer's score, delivers a noble show of functional competence that, while less than inspiring, is nonetheless a faithful re-creation that should please connoisseurs of classic movie music.--Joseph Lanza