It seems inevitable that whenever the Batman franchise (or any franchise) is revisited that a compilation album will ensure, and among the Batman film franchise there’s been Varese Sarabande’s Batman Trilogy (1997), and the occasional theme recording on Silva Screen’s own themed compilations, such as the recent Music from the Films of Tim Burton (2008).

The huge success of The Dark Knight (2008) perhaps ignited the idea for another album featuring themes from all of the Batman films, and overall it’s a decent album with selections (mostly) performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus under separate direction from Nic Raine and James Fitzpatrick.

As with prior Silva productions, the orchestrations are sharp and the engineering flawless, and the Prague Philharmonic does a good job in performing cues by composers from very diverse backgrounds.

Danny Elfman’s Batman themes (6) include the title music, love theme, some action music, and the closing confrontation and finale, of which the latter is just slightly weak in that it lacks the bigger scale of the original soundtrack recording. That’s evident during the final bars when the full orchestra converges for one big heroic send-off, but to make up for the lack of a bell chime and heavy bass rumble, there’s an emphasis on brass and cymbals, and a slight shift in trumpet harmonies which gives an equally potent emphasis on Batman’s heroism.

Batman Returns is showcased via the “End Titles,” and it’s lovingly performed with strings, and ondes martinot for the lullaby and eerie lament before the full orchestra returns for a big gothic surge. The chorus and lilting harmonies are faithful to the original, as are the orchestrations, particularly the nuances among the woodwinds and gliding strings.

Eflman’s “End Titles” have a Germanic quality that provides some continuity when the album moves towards extracts from Elliot Goldenthal’s  Batman Forever (1) and Batman & Robin (1). The Goldenthal cues are fairly short, and they function largely as modest transition material from the better represented Elfman music to the recent films scored by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The Prague Philharmonic manage to glide comfortably through Goldenthal’s shimmering, ferocious brass heralds, but more cues should’ve been included, at least for those unreleased cuts, since the Goldenthal scores have been given short shrift by fans and critics, and only one score selection from Batman & Robin appeared on the music-from-and-inspired-by concoction.

The biggest curiosity on Silva’s album is hearing how well the Philharmonic handles Zimmer and Howard’s material from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight – mostly because the scores feature careful integration of electronics and orchestra. Perhaps the “Eptesicus” is an easier choice because it’s more melodic, and lends itself to a slower interpretation to emphasize Bruce Wayne’s inner torment, and his destiny to be the dark hero Gotham’s politicians need but are sometimes ashamed or too selfish to support in favour of personal gains and professional power.

“Excessive Expansion” from Dark Knight is well-handled, and the orchestra adds a heavy drum and subtle electronics in place of the massive bass drone and distortion in the original soundtrack recording. There’s also en emphasis on contrast – as with a short, pensive segment with strings and oboe – which works, as well as an emphasis on the tragic via strings in the cue’s closing bars.

The Zimmer-Howard cues are followed by a grand cue from Shirley Walker’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, as well as Christopher Drake’s Batman: Gotham Knight – two animated films that featured very solid scores by underrated composers. Both film scores were given full CD releases, but it’s nice to see them as part of the Batman world; Walker’s lone cue has a gorgeous choral passage with male and female singers, whereas Drake’s cut (“End Credits”) functions as a good orchestral closer to the CD with its emphasis on turbulence and ongoing struggle. The orchestra gives a nice robust performance of Drake’s own grand Batman theme, and the full male/female chorus provides continuity with the gothic stream present in each of the Batman scores.

The CD’s last cues are from Batman: The Movie (nelson Riddle) and the original TV series (Neal Hefti). Performed by London Music Works, both themes are vintage orchestral jazz/rock, and they're given faithful treatments with bopping percussion, and nice brass arrangements faithful to the mawkish quality of the campy original recordings. The Batman theme also has a nice organ solo that’s a perfect evocation of Hefti’s cheeky use of the instrument in many of his sixties film scores.

Silva’s Batman album is a too-brief but good sampler of the main themes written by pretty diverse composers over a forty-year period, and while most of the scores have been released as full commercial albums, it’s a brisk alternative towards ploughing through several hours of Batman music.

© 2009 Mark R. Hasan