Mancini

A definitive 1960s soundtrack comes to CD at last: Wait Until Dark (1967), the brilliant, moody and haunting score composed and conducted by Henry Mancini. The name "Mancini" resonates today as a master of light pop and comedy. One of the touchstones of his career—and of movie music itself—is "Moon River," composed for Breakfast at Tiffany's and conveying the beauty and heart of Audrey Hepburn. However, Mancini was endlessly inventive and relished the opportunity to showcase a darker and more dramatic side of his ability. One of the best chances came on another, very different Audrey Hepburn movie, Wait Until Dark, and he did not disappoint. Wait Until Dark was a suspense masterpiece starring Hepburn as a blind housewife who is terrorized by three hoods (Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna and Jack Weston) trying to retrieve a heroin-filled doll from her New York City apartment.

Henry Mancini really needs no introduction. His music is as much a part of the twentieth century as rock 'n' roll, the Lennon and McCartney partnership, jazz and the great American songbook. This Vocalion release compiles two albums from the later part of Mancini's more than twenty-year association with the RCA Victor label, and both show that he was more than able to 'get with it' in the funky 1970s. This is borne out in Mancini's Angels (1977), which, of course, is a paraphrase of 'Charlie's Angels', the massively popular US TV show that invited viewers into the glamorous world of a trio of beautiful female private detectives. In 1978 Henry Mancini and his orchestra were back in the studio to record The Theme Scene, another exploration of film and television music…

While it would be ridiculous to say that Henry Mancini produced no better score than this one, it's certainly true that his collaborations with writer/director Blake Edwards generated some of Mancini's greatest compositions. Victor/Victoria is merely a wonderful score, with fun performances from Julie Andrews and Robert Preston. [An expanded edition by GNP/Crescendo offered some newly released material, mostly sweetly jazzy instrumental material, although there's one very real gem as well – Robert Preston's show-stopping performance of "The Shady Dame from Seville," the peak point of the movie itself, and now certainly the peak point of this charming and delightful reissue.]