Not played this in donkeys years.
Fun to hear it again like the first time!
The opus magnum among soundtracks by Howard Shore:
Yes, not every single minute of the 3:50h stands the test of listening to it as if it a dramatic piece of music without watching the movie. There are lots of meaningless background music passages as well as battles over battles, more than in parts I and II. And at times it is pretty cliché-laden, some critics used to compare it with music of biblical movies.
On the other hand, there is also a lot to discover. Whenever Renée Fleming is taking part, it gets wonderful. The ´Mount Doom´ Finale and the Epilogue music have a quality which gets lost in the cinema. And Annie Lennox is great in the closing titles´ song which bears some irony in the very finale as it finally sounds like harmonic fragments of Wagner´s ´Ring´.
Personally I like the first part, FOTR, more. Sound quality is amazing as the whole 10 hours have been recorded in surround.
I bet it’s awesome in multichannel!
I really love Max Richter, any recomendations of other similar artists?
Very unusual soundtrack which definitely works well separated from the screenplay but not sure if it qualifies as a symphony:
Anyways, very interesting music and great recording.