Erich Korngold was the pioneer composer of the Hollywood film score during the 1930s and 40s. Errol Flynn starred in the films whose scores are featured on this CD, playing assorted dashing heroes swashbuckling their way through four slices of English history.
The line-up assembled here could not be bettered.
Previn knows just how this music should go while the LSO bring the prerequisite pizzazz and élan that the music needs to take wing. The dexterity with which they negotiate the heavily scored cue 'Duel Continued' from The Sea Hawk (track 8) would prompt anyone to give a spontaneous round of applause.
The brilliant panoply of brass and strings that opens The Sea Hawk at once denotes these as 'action' films, but Previn's way with the music isn't to let the mood be dictated by the 'separate card' by which each moment in the credits was given a specific number of seconds on the screen. So the broad string theme of The SeaHawk unfolds with a symphonic breadth akin to that majestic opening of Vaughan Williams's ASea Symphony. In The Prince and the Pauper the LSO respond in true Romantic style to Korngold's luxuriant expansion of his material, and it comes across in this most affectionate performance as Korngold's finest cinematic achievement. A marvellous recording sets the seal on a definitive account of this splendid music.

Having composed several film scores himself, André Previn is the ideal conductor for this collection of suites from various films. The London Symphony Orchestra is of course no stranger to the world of film music either, having performed on the soundtrack of countless films (including a small film from 1977 entitled Star Wars), and their matchless playing is perfect for brass-heavy scores such as Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk.