The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus has become the go-to group for new renditions of cinema music. One argument for the existence of new recordings of music already recorded for movie soundtracks is no different than the reason for keeping Beethoven in the classical repertoire. The best film music composers have written music that deserves to be heard over and again, in fresh contexts.
To be sure, the new CD by the Prague Philharmonic, The Music of Batman (released by Silva Screen Records), includes the familiar strains of Neal Hefti’s theme from the campy ‘60s TV show. But Danny Elfman, perhaps the most accomplished musician writing orchestral music for the screen today, composed much of the music heard here. His dark, brooding overtures and impressionistic themes for director Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns are shaped by the classical music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and would stand up well on a symphony program alongside the work that provided Elfman his inspiration.
