The Concert Sound of Henry Mancini (Remastered)

The Concert Sound of Henry Mancini is not a live album. Mancini embarked on a national tour before the album was recorded, for which he wrote new arrangements of signature and popular tunes organized into thematic medleys. The concerts were well-received, but instead of releasing a live recording from the tour, Mancini assembled a 70-piece orchestra to perform selections from his concert repertoire on a Hollywood sound stage. The resulting album reproduces in part the content and arrangements from Mancini's live shows, but it is a bit of a stretch to refer to it as his "concert sound," since these tightly controlled performances lack the spontaneity and unpredictability of live recordings. The four medleys Mancini chose for the album are devoted to Academy Award selections, Victor Young and David Rose compositions, and a sampling of Mancini's television themes. The medley format is entertaining and fast-paced, particularly on the set of Academy Award-winning melodies, but the album's concept is of dubious merit.