Francis Lai Anthology

Spring 2016 will be the 50th anniversary of the music for A Man and a Woman, Francis Lai's birth-certificate as a film-music composer. To commemorate the event, Play-Time is proud to present this 7CD boxed set entitled Francis Lai Anthology, a collection whose simple aim is to present the (very) original soundtracks composed by the great Lai, now carefully restored for the occasion. Each album in the set has its own concept: Lelouch-Belmondo for example, with the music from Itinerary of a Spoiled Child and Love is a Funny Thing, or Lelouch-Hallyday, notably for the electrifying score from L'Aventure, c'est l'aventure (Money Money Money), a pop tsunami that was never published after the film's release… until now. The set also includes the CD Double polars (from the films Body of my Enemy and The Crook), the iconic original score of Bilitis, here for the first time in its splendid unabbreviated version, and also a CD devoted to the productive association between Francis Lai and René Clément (with the music from their films And Hope to Die and The Baby sitter). Along the way, the contents reveal previously unreleased music and other rarities: the complete signature-tunes that Lai composed for FR3 Television; pieces written for short films (notably works directed by Claude Pinoteau); and an iconoclastic reading of Les Etoiles du Cinéma, specially recorded by the brilliant pianist and composer Jean-Michel Bernard in tribute to his master.

Quartet Records, Paramount Pictures and Universal Music Group present the remastered, expanded release of the iconic score by the great Francis Lai (A Man and A Woman, Life for Life, House of Cards, Dark Eyes, Bilitis) for the unforgettable 1970 romantic classic Love Story, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ryan O’Neal, Ali McGraw, Ray Milland and John Marley. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and O’Neal and McGraw’s performances, but won only in the Best Original Score category (the only Oscar ever won by the prolific French composer). The choice of Francis Lai was a personal obsession of producer Robert Evans, who pursued the composer until he accepted, despite Lai initially refusing to compose the score due to other commitments. But Evans’ intuition was spot-on. Today, Lai’s Love Story score remains one of the most memorable and richly lyrical works in the canon of romantic film scores. The main theme remains one of the most famous melodies in film history, covered countess times—including an especially memorable arrangement by Henry Mancini for RCA.

To issue a single-disc best- or worst-of soundtrack, composer Michel Legrand is an intimidating prospect. This 16-track volume from Sweden's budget label, Skyline, does a super job of getting all the major stuff into one place with awesome digitally remastered sound to boot.