Cinema Classics for Solo Piano is a stripped down arrangement of classic film themes as performed by Mark Northam. Performing these themes for solo piano really lets the melodies shine and spotlights the genius of such composers as Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Dave Grusin, Nino Rota and John Williams...

BuySoundtrax has a history of producing compilation albums for solo piano. Most recently these have included The Music of Battlestar Galactica for Piano Solo and Music from The Walt Disney/Pixar Films Up, Ratatouille, The Incredibles for Solo Piano. In addition Music for Moving Images recently released Piano Music From the Movies Vol. 1. It's not a sub-genre that I thought I'd actually warm too, but it's surprisingly comforting to listen to music you know so well being played on such a beautiful instrument - especially as Mark Northam is obviously emotionally engaged with each piece he performs.

The one track I was worried about was the theme to Midnight Cowboy. Oddly enough John Barry's wonderful score translates to the piano incredibly well - in fact it's probably one of my favourite tracks on the album.

My only slight complaint is that the last song cuts off as the piano is fading - instead of letting the strings continue to ring the production team decided that the track should be cut short. That and the fact that the music from A Shot In The Dark and The Pink Panther have a tendency to sound a little amateurish (but if you listen closely this is exactly how it's supposed to be played).

This is an album to stick on on a lazy summer's weekend and just relax to.

Track listing:

01 - 'I See You' (From Avatar) Music by James Horner
02 - 'Main Theme' (From Braveheart) Music by James Horner
03 - 'Can You Read My Mind? (From Superman)' Music by John Williams
04 - 'Love Theme' (From The Blue Lagoon) Music by Basil Poledouris
05 - 'Main Theme' (From Cinema Paradiso) Music by Ennio Morricone
06 - ' Main Theme' (From Chariots of Fire) Music by Vangelis
07 - 'Main Theme' (From Dying Young) Music by James Newton Howard
08 - 'Main Theme' (From El Cid) Music by Miklós Rózsa
09 - 'Laura’s Theme' (From Laura) Music by David Raksin
10 - 'Main Theme' (From Legends of the Fall) Music by James Horner
11 - 'Theme' (From Love Story) Music by Francis Lai
12 - 'Main Theme' (From Midnight Cowboy) Music by John Barry
13 - 'Main Theme' (From A Shot In The Dark) Music by Henry Mancini
14 - 'Theme' (From The Pink Panther) Music by Henry Mancini
15 - 'Moon River' (From Breakfast At Tiffany’s) Music by Henry Mancini
16 - 'Main Theme' (From Romeo and Juliet) Music by Nino Rota
17 - 'Free As The Wind' (From Papillon) Music by Jerry Goldsmith
18 - 'Main Theme' (From The Man From Snowy River) Music by Bruce Rowland
19 - 'Main Theme' (From Terms of Endearment) Music by Michael Gore
20 - 'Love Theme' (From The Godfather) Music by Nino Rota
21 - 'Main Theme' (From The Goodbye Girl) Music by Dave Grusin
22 - 'Main Theme' (From The Sand Pebbles) Music by Jerry Goldsmith
23 - 'The Dark Song' (From The Detective) Music by Jerry Goldsmith

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Darren Rea