Before her feature debut with Titus, Julie Taymor (Mrs Elliot Goldenthal) was (and still is) a renowned theatre director and had greatest success with an inspired stage version of The Lion King. Whereas the live action Beauty and the Beast had been a lavish, traditional adaptation, her vision of puppets and sparse, impressionistic sets garnered much critical acclaim. Titus suggested that her true artistic heart beats in a much darker and more complex way than Disney adaptations and that is reflected in her version of Carlo Gozzi's The Green Bird. Although noted as Original Cast Album, this is more accurately an underscore for theatre than a musical - in fact it's closer to opera when there is singing - and it could easily be a Goldenthal film score, although with somewhat smaller forces than usual.

Truffaldino's Sausage Shop, while fun, is not a terribly promising start, sounding more like an outtake from Batman Returns replete with cheesy Hammond organs and fairly typical Goldenthal mannerisms. However, O Greedy People, adds a chorus (with original lyrics by Gozzi and Albert Bermel) and the result is quite astounding. As mentioned, these brief songs are more modern opera than musical, certainly for a play, the singing is of an above average calibre. I'm not a great fan of opera and modern opera, in particular, can often be abstract and uninvolving, but Goldenthal has just the right balance between theatre, drama and invention. There are a number of brief songs throughout including the wonderful Joy to the King beautifully performed by Sophia Salguero.

There is no main theme as such, each instrumental track is a musical vignette that ranges from the gorgeous Barbarina's Lament or Antoine Silverman's solo violin for The King's Lament, to the very strange Under Bustle Funk that takes full advantage of the comedic possibilities of Bruce Williamson's bass clarinet. Goldenthal's grotesque carnival personality is evident in several tracks, The Bickering and Accordions and Palace Rhumba are particular highlights. Perhaps the only bit of invention, if you can call it that, which fails is Prologue (curiously towards the end of the album) which after an eerie instrumental start, is essentially two minutes of someone tuning a radio dial with snippets of music and voices. Inventive and fun for about 10 seconds, the novelty soon runs out and it all seems a bit silly.

O Foolish Heart is the full chorus finale, with lyrics this time by David Suehsdorf and even adds tap dancing courtesy of Meredith Peterson. The vocal contributions make me wonder what Goldenthal might have done with The Nightmare Before Christmas or another similar offbeat musical format. I certainly believe that Goldenthal has an opera in him somewhere, having tackled ballet, written a mass and many other highly acclaimed concert hall compositions, there doesn't seem to be a style that is beyond his talents. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a score to a play, if you enjoy his film music, you'll undoubtedly get a kick out of this. Besides, what other album includes a (fake, don't worry!) green feather within the CD case?!

Rating ~

  1. Truffaldino's Sausage Shop (1:15)
  2. O Greedy People (The Apples that Sing) (2:56)
  3. Tartaglia's Lament (1:52)
  4. The Bickering (1:02)
  5. Calmon, King Of Statues (2:28)
  6. Joy To The King (2:14)
  7. Ninetta's Hope (2:33)
  8. Renzo And Pompea Duet (2:11)
  9. Barbarina's Lament (1:48)
  10. The Waters That Dance (1:26)
  11. Serpentina's Garden (1:33)
  12. Under Bustle Funk (1:13)
  13. Green Bird Descent (2:12)
  14. The Magic Feather (1:06)
  15. The King's Lament (solo violin) (0:40)
  16. Accordions And Palace Rhumba (1:28)
  17. Prologue (Radio Waves) (2:00)
  18. Acids And Alkalis (2:28)
  19. Apple Aria Instrumental (1:35)
  20. O Foolish Heart (2:19)

Total Time ~ 36:01