1907 - 1995
1907 - 1995
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World concert premiere Notice received from Michael Hurshell, Artistic Director of the Neue Jüdische Kammer philharmonie. Dresden, Germany. The premiere of Rózsa’s 'Andante for String Orchestra op.22a' prepared by the composer and Mr. Palmer for CD recording in the 90’s and apparently not performed in concert to date. Mr Hurshell "I am of course delighted by the privilege of presenting the work to live audiences for the first time." The performances took place on November 10, November 11, November 12, 2008, Orchestra site The president of the Miklós Rózsa Society, John Fitzpatrick has announced that the original publisher of the Rózsa autobiography 'A Double Life' has unearthed a substantial stock of the original paperback issue. These are being offered for sale. Details of the announcement are posted on the Forum.
New Concerts listed Saturday 14th March 2009. UK. Kingston Philharmonia. 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.' November 18th 2008. France. 17th January 2009. Eindhoven. The Netherlands. 10th 11th 12th March 2009. Miklós Rózsa: Sinfonia concertante Op. 29. Diane Wittry conducting The Allentown Symphony Orchestra. 14th & 15th February 2009. Ben Hur Love Theme. December 15th & 17th. USA. Boise Idaho. Idaho Choral Symhony Orchestra. Miklós Rózsa 'Ben-Hur' selections.(Choral suite?)
Recent Criterion DVD release. The Thief of Bagdad is notable because it was the score that Miklós Rózsa was composing when the whole production was moved to the USA during the war years. The composer stayed on in Hollywood and settled into a long career of successful composing for films and his classical works. This DVD has the distinction of having two Rózsa extra features. Firstly the 'music and effects track' described as having very few sound effects or being subdued and including alternate takes. Untill a new recording of the score is realized this could be the best alternative. Secondly there are excerpts from a 1976 radio interview with Miklós Rózsa.Follow the FSM discussion. New Recording Ohio University has announced the 2008 Baker fund award recipients. Included is a $12000 award for a project to record a CD of rarely heard works by 20th century composer Miklós Rózsa, a project Michael Carrera, Marjorie Bagley and Steven Huang are undertaking in the School of Music. "Any time we want to do a recording project, it becomes very expensive," Huang said. "With this Baker grant, we are able to complete the project in Eastern Europe." More details Says Mr Frank DeWald from the Rozsa Society,"I have been able to confirm that the disc will include the Sinfonia Concertante (its 6th recording!), the solo violin sonata and, possibly, the Piano Quintet. The Sinfonia has already been recorded with soloists Bagley and Carrera accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of Moldova conducted by Huang. The other work(s) will be recorded during the coming academic year. No label has yet been confirmed." Rózsa papers Miklós Rózsa donated a portion of his personal papers to Syracuse University in 1964 and the Estate has made a number of subesquent deposits. Following the Estate's latest deposit in 2005, inspired by the centennial year of 2007, and taking advantage of several skilled researchers and the new electronic media, the Library has created an inventory of the Rozsa Papers This splendid collection has been somewhat underutilized in the past and for years the growing collection lacked a proper catalog. Dr. Rozsa always wanted this material to be available to the public. Now his wish is a reality. The Bird Library (formerly the George Arents Research Library) with the very helpful staff there welcomes interested parties to Syracuse and offers a limited degree of research assistance to remote users via e-mail. The Miklós Rózsa Papers Successful Rózsa Festival A Rózsa music festival was held in Belgrade, Serbia fom 16th till 19th May. The music event highlight was a major concert on 17th May which consisted of classical and film music with three Concertos. Also lectures (incl John Fitzpatrick, The Miklós Rózsa Society President) an exhibition and a series of Rózsa scored films in the days leading up to and following the concert. Rózsa works included the Violin Concerto, performed by Robert Bokor. Viola Concerto, performed by Gilad Karni. Sinfonia Concertante, performed by Raphael Wallfisch (cello) and Ilya Gringolts (violin). Overture to a Symphony Concert all with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yair Samet and as an encore, The Parade of the Charioteers from Ben-Hur. Festival site details Comments and opinions of the festival can be read at the forum Festival page. Also online photos taken during the festival.
CD Release. US buyers only. ROZSA CONDUCTS ROZSA. Miklos Rozsa conducts the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, with Denes Zsigmondy, violin: Concerto for String Orchestra op 17. Kaleidoscope op 19a. Variations on a Hungarian Peasant Song op 4. Miklós Rózsa conducts the Symphony of Rome: Notturno Ungherese op 28. Salome's Dance.(extended) Limited edition. ReDiscovery Stereo RD 134 - 58:27 - $15 Details and Audio samples Rózsa Film Festival The Castro Theatre in San Francisco held a festival of Rózsa scored films over the Christmas /New year holiday period. Organized by Steve Vertlieb who interviewed the composer's daughter, Juliet Rozsa, read tributes and introduced some of the films. The Hungarian Embassy in the USA issued a proclamation to coincide with the festival honouring Miklós Rózsa for his contribution to film and classical music. A similar proclamation from the Mayor and city of San Francisco was read at a screening. Live performances of Rózsa's music were to have been presented on the restored theatre Organ leading up to some of the film screenings. Read a review, of proceedings.
Centennial
A rather underpublicised event in Santa Margherita, the seaside hideaway in Italy where Rózsa composed so much of
his classical music, has turned out to represent one of the more noteworthy events of the centennial year. A two day festival was held on the 5th & 8th September in celebration of
the Maestro's 100th birthday year. Peformances of Chamber music were the order of the day including the Sonata for Duo Violins op 15, Serenade for Strings Op 1 amongst others.
News clipping / News clipping
New Recording November 5th till 10th saw the recording of a New Naxos Rózsa disc by the Budapest Concert Orchestra conducted by Mariusz Smolij. Works intended for inclusion in this recording are
Hungarian Nocturne, Hungarian Serenade, Hungarian Sketches and The Viola Concerto with violist Gilad Karni. Naxos announcement.
Centennial An all Rózsa concert of chamber music organized by Ecran Sonore took place in Paris on November 16th in honour of the Centennial. The four concert pieces for Piano, Violin and Cello
were performed at the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Conservatory.
CD Discography This major compilation by Doug Raynes has been added to the Miklós Rózsa society website giving an overview of CD releases and relationship to past LP releases, if any.
The documents are in pdf format and give a description of the CD and track listings along with an image of the cover. A very useful guide for those seeking out Rózsa CDs.
See Miklós Rózsa society Homepage Quickview version
Centennial Highlight of the weekend of August 17-19 was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Rozsa tribute with screenings of Ivanhoe, The Thief of Bagdad, The Killers, and El Cid (an original IB Technicolor print) The
series was to be introduced by Jon Burlingame, hosting a panel discussion including Bruce Broughton, Rudy Behlmer, and Juliet Rozsa. Details
Centennial At the International Film Music Conference held in Úbeda, Spain, from the 19th till 22cnd July, the programme opened with an hour long scheduled Miklós Rózsa tribute with Robert Towson & Joan Padrol as part of its first day.
CD Release From January 5 to 7, Philippe Quint and William Wolfram recorded works for violin and piano by Miklos Rozsa.
Mr. Quint also recorded the composer's Sonata for Violin Solo. The sessions took place at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, with Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver in charge of production and engineering. Reports Philippe Quint: "I loved the Gould
Hall and generally the whole atmosphere. I am expecting this to be a really great album -- the wonderful music may even be
a discovery for the violin world, especially the solo sonata. Open link to this CD. The CD is available online for around $8 Recording sessions video
Centennial On Thursday 6th September as part of the West Norfolk Music Society Festival (England) which featured Rózsa's works in four concerts,
Alan Hamer, European Society representative, gave an "Illustrated Talk" on the music of Miklós Rózsa in conversation with Andrew Knowles & the Society's Artistic Director Desmond Hayes-Lynge. It included interviews with the Composer as well as clips from his film scores & recorded excerpts of his music, especially those pieces to be performed throughout the Festival.
Festival Site. See Performances page for Concert details.
Centennial The year of the centennial of Miklós Rózsa's birth has seen an upsurge of interest in his music with the production of both new recordings and performances around the world. Over sixty known performances of his works have either taken place during this year. While a number of these can undoubtedly be attributed to the centennial, a good reason to perform a Rózsa
work, the carryon effect should ensure repeat performances to come. Soloists such as Robert McDuffie and Anastasia Khitruk are ensuring that Rózsa is being heard further abroad in concert as well as new recordings for Naxos. Further some major new recordings of Rózsa film scores have been released or are pending.
Pro Musica Sana, The Miklós Rózsa society magazine was issued in the Spring of 2007. This new and record sized centenary edition of PMS ( 44 pages) contains part 3 of Ralph Erkelenz's mammoth Ben-Hur
Score analysis, taking it up to the Balthasar's world cue. Part 1 can be read elsewhere on this site. Frank K DeWald reviews new CD recordings of Miklós Rózsa's works. Furthermore there are listed concerts and recordings, both upcoming and recent.
Part 4 will start with Ben-Hur's return to Jerusalem. The never recorded music for the dungeon scenes, the different versions of the lepers theme and the three versions of the Intermission music will be discussed, plus the two Entractes and the Circus music.
All in the next issue of PMS. Available by subscription which automatically ensures membership to the Miklós Rózsa Society.
CD Release. SPELLBOUND : Intrada 7100 : Intrada announced a late May release for the new Spellbound recording. To be added to the celebrated Excalibur series, the
recording is conducted by Allan Wilson and Performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In a joint effort between Intrada and Belcanto, the Spellbound Oscar winning score became a top priority for a full recording and it was
compiled and restored by Rózsa expert Daniel Robbins. In late November 2006, the score was recorded in its entirety in Bratislava, Slovakia at the Slovak Radio Concert Hall under the
baton of Allan Wilson and engineered by Peter Fuchs. For authenticity, an actual theremin was located in London and
recorded at the Ridge Farm Studios in West Sussex. The theremin was performed by Celia Sheen. Alan Hamer, who attended the recording sessions gives an account in the following article,
Spellbound in Bratislava. Intrada is making available Video clips of the recording process
and you can follow the resulting Forum Discussion.
Label, Intrada 7100 : Date, 1945 : Tracks 21 : Time = 74:50 : Recorded Nov 2006 Centennial October 2007. For three days the famous German Cinerama cinema "Filmtheater Schauburg" in Karlsruhe,
presents a dozen classic film epics in the king of all film formats: 70mm. BIG weekend BIG film format BIG screen.
Includes “Ben Hur” (212 min) + intermission and “El Cid” (182 min) + intermission.
Todd-AO 70mm-Festival site CD Release. The new recording of The Private life of Sherlock
Holmes Tadlow 004 received its first official release on April 18th 2007 (Centennial date of Rozsa's birth)
The City of Prague Philharmonic under the baton of Nic Raine recorded Miklós Rózsa’s complete score, parts of which are
heard for the first time. Rózsa’s score which incorporated portions of his Violin Concerto has been received well with
positive reactions flooding the discussion forums. Says James Fitzpatrick of the Tadlow label; "I believe that the
orchestra responded to this score with more enthousiasm than any other piece of music I have recorded with them over the
course of 20 years." Music audio samples CD Release. American Piano Sonatas. divine art dda 25052. Peter Seivewright - (piano).
To celebrate the 100th birthday of Elliott Carter in 2008, and what would have been Miklós Rózsa's 100th in 2007,
this Cd will contain each composer's Piano Sonata, together with Macdowell's Fourth Sonata and the "Three-Page Sonata" by Charles Ives. Release Summer 2008.
Link CD Release. Miklos Rozsa A Centenary Celebration. Varese Catalog #: 302 066 810 2. CD Release. Sodom and Gomorrah CDDM074. 100th Anniversary double CD Edition. The 111.38 minute score was licensed for release from C.A.M. 1000 units only in the first issue from the Stereo session tapes. Sparse notes and a track listing in Italian. The first issue on CD of the Legend LP set with a few added bonus chants discovered on the session tapes.
Listen to clips of this score. CD Release. Three Choral Suites. Ben-Hur, Quo Vadis, King of Kings.
Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra/Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Listen to clips of this CD. CD Release. Elmer Bernstein's Film Music Collection
FSM Set of Bernstein recordings which include Rózsa's Thief of Bagdad, Madame Bovary and Young Bess.
CD Release. Quo Vadis & Ben Hur reissue The London recordings by Rózsa. Recently reissued with superb sound and both recordings in one set.
Listen to clips of this CD set. Centennial.Syracuse University presented a Rózsa-Waxman exhibition in honour of the centennials from February till 31st May.
Details
A Rózsa handwritten score cue to Farewell
from Time after Time was sold by auction on 15th Dec for $850. From discussion on the Rozsa Forum, it appears this may be an unrecorded alternate cue. Morgan and Stromberg announced their new recording label 'Tribute Film Classics' in December 2006. In the resulting
discussion on FSM John Morgan states that it is their intention to record some Rozsa material. Titles mentioned are
Thief of Bagdad, Five Graves to Cairo and The Red House . However, more recently, John Morgan put a damper on it when he stated "Rózsa is in our plans, but everyone seems to be doing him now". Centennial. A book by Jeffrey Dane, titled "A Composer's Notes: Remembering Miklós Rózsa," was published late in 2006 to coincide with the Rózsa centenary. Dane writes of his memories of Rózsa and includes personal letters, photos and facsimiles. The book is available either directly from the publisher (iUniverse), or through other online venues as well as bookstores.
CD Release. June 2006. Miklós Rózsa - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra op.32. Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello and Orchestra op.29
Raphael Wallfisch, Philippe Graffin, BBC Concert Orchestra/Barry Wordsworth. GLD4018. CD details 
Upcoming Performances Links to Rózsa mp3 Audio clips. Rózsa Sheet music Printed and Biographical |
CD Release Oct 28 2008 
El Cid Recording The Following Announcement by Tadlow Music on Sept 10th 07. James Fitzpatrick, record producer and orchestral
contractor for Tadlow Music Ltd, has announced today final plans for the first ever complete recording of the classic epic score by MIKLOS ROZSA for EL CID. This long cherished
project has had a bit of a stop/start progress but now the project is proceeding with some haste. In fact, some 70 minutes of material is already “in the can”. This was recorded
over the course of 4 sessions in September with the 94-piece City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nic Raine. Major cues recorded so far include “Overture”,
“Prelude/Main Title”, “Entry of the Nobles”, “Coronation”, “Fight for Calahorra”, “The Road to Asturias/13 Knights”, “The Expedition”, “Wedding Night”,“The Barn – Love Scene”,
“El Cid March”, “Battle of Valencia” “The Death of El Cid” and the “The Legend and Finale”. The rest of the score, some 70 minutes more, will be recorded in Spring of 2008 when
final reconstruction and orchestration from Rozsa’s original sketches is completed by Nic Raine. After the orchestral sessions there will be some brass recording
(to be confirmed) with the Cornets of the Central Band of the RAF as well as choir sessions with Crouch End Festival Chorus and organ recording in Peterborough Cathedral.
Once the recording is completely finished the plan,as yet to be confirmed, is to release a Limited Edition 3 Disc Set. Discs 1 and 2 to be the Stereo masters, while disc 3 will
be DVD formatted and feature the entire score in a full 5.1 cinema surround sound. Because of the scale of this project no recording date is as yet set but Autumn 2008 seems
most likely. The team recording EL CID are the same team who recorded earlier this year the successful and highly-acclaimed THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES: Conductor
Nic Raine, Sound Engineer Jan Holzner (recording at Smecky Studios in 24bit, 96Kzh High Definition Sound), Mixing Engineer: Gareth Williams, The City of Prague Philharmonic
with Concert Master Lucie Svehlova, and Producer James Fitzpatrick. 
