DON JUAN DE MARCO
Rating: 
Original Review: Don Juan De Marco is generally considered to be one of the highlight works in Michael Kamen's career to date. It's a gorgeous, laid-back composition with wonderful Latin textures and evocative melodies which capture perfectly the mood of Jeremy Leven's acclaimed movie that starred Johnny Depp as the 20th Century incarnation of Lord Byron's literary lover and Marlon Brando as the disillusioned psychiatrist whose life is transformed by the wild and wanton Don Juan. Beginning with the fiery 'Habanera', which was obviously modelled on the style of Bizet's Carmen, the score unfolds into a series of beautifully realised cues, all of which perfectly express the sensuous and passionate nature of the story and make wonderful use of some beautiful instrumental solos (most notably by Paco De Lucia's expressive acoustic guitar and Caroline Dale's deep and sonorous cello). The highlights include 'Don Juan', a tender rendition of the score's main theme; 'I Was Born In Mexico', which features a lovely old-fashioned Spanish melody and some exciting percussion; 'Dona Julia', which contains some amazingly delicate work for oboes and violins; 'Arabia', with its exotic, Turkish-bazaar style middle eastern rhythms; and the lovely lyrical ending in 'Dona Ana'. Of course, no Michael Kamen soundtrack would be complete without one of the terrific songs he has a knack for writing, all of which tend to have extremely long titles and more often than not top the British charts for weeks on end. His third hit for Bryan Adams, following in the esteemed footsteps of "Everything I Do, I Do For You" and "All For One And One For Love", is "Have You Really Ever Loved A Woman", which utilises Adams' breathy vocals and a plethora of Mexican orchestrations (castanets, guitars and the like) to great effect. This song is also interestingly altered in the cue 'Has Amado Una Mujer De Veras', when it is performed with romantic-sounding Spanish lyrics by singers Jose Hernandez and Nydia. As if proof were needed, Don Juan De Marco simply confirms Kamen's standing as one of the most original and excellent composers working today and goes a long, long way to finally shattering his image as 'just an action writer'.
Track Listing:
- Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman (written by Bryan Adams, Robert John Lange and Michael Kamen, performed by Bryan Adams) (4:51)
- Habanera (2:08)
- Don Juan (4:08)
- I Was Born In Mexico (2:25)
- Has Amado Una Mujer De Veras (written by Bryan Adams, Robert John Lange and Michael Kamen, performed by Michael Kamen, Jose Hernandez and Nydia) (2:45)
- Dona Julia (4:58)
- Don Alfonso (6:47)
- Arabia (7:53)
- Don Octavio del Flores (1:46)
- Dona Ana (7:31)
Running Time: 45 minutes 12 seconds
A&M Records 540-357-2 (1995)
Music composed and conducted by Michael Kamen. Performed by The London Metropolitan Orchestra. Orchestrations by Michael Kamen, Robert Elhai, Nick Ingman and Edward Shearmur. Featured musical soloists Julian Bream, Paul Kamen, Paco DeLucia, Juan Martin, John Themis, Chucko Merchan, Orlando Rincon, Sol DeMexico, Anna Maria Velez, Christopher Warren-Green, Caroline Dale and Luis Jardim. Recorded and mixed by Andy Warwick and Bob Ludwig. Edited by Zigmund Gron. Album produced by Michael Kamen, Stephen McLaughlin and Christopher Brooks.
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