by nuts_score on 12/20/2006
favorite track: 15
 
My first compliment is that the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra has never sounded more majestic and captivating (I own works by Wagner, Bernstein, Strauss, and Mozart as performed by the BPO). I can't stress enough how every composer (Tykwer, Heil, and Klimek) involved with this has grown. There are moments of absolute beauty on this album (and they are frequent) and nothing slows or drags; even at a healthy 70-minute length. It seems that the Germans have learned best from my personal favorite composer, Richard Wagner (also a Kraut himself), and have developed some captivating leitmotifs to serve the characters of the film (of which I have yet to see a frame). The electronics are few and - thankfully - exist only to help the orchestra along at a percussive level. The vocal solos (a big highlight being "Meeting Laura") are performed by three sopranos (two being female and one a young male) and add just the right amount of beauty to the haunting orchestrations they occupy. Almost all of the work here reminds me of classical work by Wagner, Vaughn Williams, Beethoven, etc. It's absolutely remarkable how I could consider a duo of composers (and their collaborative director) amongst the lowest levels of composers only to have them brought to the very top by such an extraordinary musical score.