This past week, I received the most incredible cd to review - Cinema, by world-renowned French violinist Laurent Korcia. This cd has quickly become our favorite, displacing even the holiday cds that are in constant play in December in our house. Cinema is just extraordinary - exquisite sounds pour from my speakers and make me smile. Why? The songs on this cd are from a wide variety of movies (hence the cd title!)...starting with one of my very favorite movies, Cinema Paradiso. I sit, quietly, while Laurent dives into the cd with such finesse that it brings tears to my eyes. Oh I love this song, this movie, Cinema Paradiso. 

From there, he explores Porgy and Bess, Mission Impossible, Schindler's List, Kika, Intermezzo, The Affair of the Necklace, several Chaplin films (Modern Times, King in New York), Breakfast at Tiffany's, In the Mood for Love, the Godfather, Scent of a Woman, Snow White, Rules of the Game, and The Innocent. You may not recognize the movies, but you WILL recognize the music - each song brings back memories - how old was I when I first saw Snow White? How did I feel watching Schindler's List?  I fell in love during the time of Cinema Paradiso. So while the cd is meritorious on its own, when combined with each listener's memories of the cinema (and its impact on our lives), it approaches instant stardom - for each of us will bring something to listening to the cd. THAT is what pushes this cd over into genius, for the artist who can truly connect with his audience will be long-remembered.  Add to it the extreme talent and fluidity that Laurent Korcia shares on this cd, and I just can't say enough about it - it's THAT GOOD.

Laurent is backed up by the European Chamber Orchestra, Michael Wendeberg, Vincent Peirani, Pierre Boussaguet, Fuzjko Hemming, Camille, Matthieu Gonet, Julien Szulman, Guillame Schilemme, Baptiste Vay, Florian Frere, Mathieu Serrano, Arnaud Guittet, Aurelie Becuwe, Alexis Baldos, and Edouard Guittet. These musicians more than ably assist Laurent in bringing these movies to life for us, in music and memory.

I was lucky enough to sit down and talk with Laurent and his producer Maurice Keizer, of AllPartsMove, Laurent's management firm. We talked about the inspiration for Cinema, choosing songs, Laurent's musical education, playing the incredible 1719 Stradivarius, and more. Here's what they had to say...

WE: Where did you get the inspiration for this cd?

LK: I always see images when I listen to music, whether the music was written
for a movie or not. A melody speaks to all of your senses and all of your
memories. In the themes I've chosen I found that to be particularly strong.
They are obsessive and sublime film themes and I noticed that the violin
often plays an important part in them, like in 'Schindler's List' for
instance. The CD is based on what I believe in, that there is no barrier
between popular and classical music, there is no 'big' or 'small' music, the
more so when one plays the violin. Music is emotion. And anyway, around the
world the violin is played in almost every genre, from traditional folklore,
via jazz to classical. Of course I have a passion for Beethoven, but I will
never let that stop me from enjoying Elvis Presley or George Brassens.

WE: How did you choose these particular songs?

MK: Laurent made a first list of about 30 themes. I added about 10 of my
choices and with that list we started to see what would work. After we
brought the list down to about 25 pieces, we started to look at was
available for violin. Amazingly, a lot of the scores were not available for
violin at all, so Laurent wrote his own adaptations over a couple of long
nights with the help of conductor/pianist Michael Wendeberg. One particular
track, Intermezzo, from the 1939 movie 'A Love Story' with Leslie Howard and
Ingrid Bergman, is a legendary film score for violinists, because it stars
an actor as a violinist. The movie was a remake of the 1936 Swedish film
'Intermezzo'. The musical duets, with Howard and Bergman, were dubbed for
the soundtrack with professional musicians; however, the actors' hands show
the actual music being played: Ingrid Bergman plays the full piano parts, so
her hand positions are correct for the music soundtrack; Leslie Howard could
not play the violin, but Ingrid Bergman explained the trick used in the
Swedish film: 2 violinists held the bow & violin before Howard in close-ups
(one held the bow and the other held the violin), while Howard kept his arms
at his sides. The amazing thing is that no one saw a thing...

WE: Please tell us about your musical education...

LK: I started very young. I wanted to be a hippie with a guitar, but I
discovered the violin at 6 -7 years and things changed fast. The rest is
more or less history.

MK: Laurent studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de
Paris, where he graduated with a first prize. He won the renowned Paganini
Competition in Genoa and numerous other competitions and awards.
In 2002, he was awarded the Victoires de la Musique - the French Grammy's -
for instrumental soloist of the year and was made Chevalier des Arts et des
Lettres. He performs regularly with the most famous classical conductors and
orchestra's but is seen as somewhat of an 'enfant terrible' with his own
programming choices and a repertoire which goes from solo violin recitals to
Bach to contemporary music.

WE: What is it like to play your 1719 Stradivarius? Does it lend a different tone to modern music?

LK: I am really very lucky to have this instrument on loan to me from LVMH for almost 10 years now. I am really grateful to them. What is special about
this instrument is that there are no limits and there is no equivalent. It
is almost like it has its own voice. A voice which travels with you and
which accompanies you. It is always with me. The first time I played it was
much like a meeting with another human being, you have to get used to it.
And a violin has its own temperament.

MK: Laurent experimented throughout the CD recordings and the PBS TV special 'Live At Les Folies Bergere', with various combinations. 'Cinema Paradiso' and 'Schindler's List' for instance were recorded with a full orchestra,
'Mission Impossible' and the tangos with accordion and double bass only,
giving a more jazzy feel and 'Fuzjko's Waltz' and 'Moon River' just with
piano. The sound of the violin is very different in each of these
combinations.

The 1719 Zahn Stradivarius is a special instrument, from the maestro violin
makers' best period. It has it's own sound and its owners/players can be
traced one-by-one all the way back to 1719!

WE: What's up next for you?

LK:  My next CD is a Tchaikovsky CD. We are most likely going to record it next spring.

WE: Thanks so very much, Laurent and Maurice! This cd is incredible - we've been playing it non-stop since we received it and just love it.

For more information, please see:
http://www.cinemacd.com/

Photos courtesy and copyright Laurent Korcia.

Note: We received a review copy of Cinema from AllPartsMove.