Music for the Movies: The Hollywood Sound

With the aid (and occasional cheeky interference) of David Raksin, one of the few survivors of Hollywood's 'Golden Age' and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under conductor John Mauceri playing to a big screen, this loving tribute to the great studio composers underlines the importance of their contribution to the success of so many classics. Such names as Alfred Newman, Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold are mulled over and a number of key sequences recreated with live music for the camera (notably The Adventures of Robin Hood), but the real gem is Raksin's account of how he came to compose the Laura theme. Educational and really rather thrilling.