Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists attempt to overthrow the government at a street barricade in Paris. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy, but a police inspector named Javert refuses to let him escape justice and pursues him for most of the play. Set in early 19th-century France, Les Misérables is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption, released in 1815 after serving nineteen years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child. Its English-language adaptation by producer Cameron Mackintosh has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks. The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Les Misérables ( / l eɪ ˌ m ɪ z ə ˈ r ɑː b( l ə)/ French pronunciation: ), colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz ( / l eɪ ˈ m ɪ z/), is a sung-through musical and an adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (original French lyrics), and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics). Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.Laurence Olivier Award for Most Popular Show.Now if only we would get more than just 30 minutes from the 90 that exist for STARSHIP TROOPERS. However, there is still plenty of music to keep the average Poledouris fan satisfied. In actuality, there are only 4 tracks, where there should have been 18 tracks - there are even noticeable breaks where should have been track breaks. This CD runs about 49 minutes long, and is spread out over four "suites".
Given that this is, after all, a tragic story, these dark orchestrations work quite well. Most of these themes, especially the romantic ones, contain undertones of sadness. A love theme for Cosette and Marius also pops in every now and then. The score is thematically based (or so it would seem): Jean Valjean has a theme, as does his nemesis Javert. However, the beginning of Suite 4 ("The Barricades") does sound strikingly similar to the theme for the barricades from the musical. The score evoked the same emotions I felt while listening to the musical, without actually using any of those themes. In fact, at some points in the score I felt as though a transition to "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" was about to occur. It is difficult to imagine that Poledouris was not in some subtle way influenced by the musical "Les Miserables". Other times we are presented with soft harps, strings and guitars - overall very pleasing. Some moments are reminiscent of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER and STARSHIP TROOPERS, with the dramatic chords and the flips from major to minor.
Poledouris took the traditional approach to this score there is no synthesizer work at all (or at least that is noticeable). In his score to LES MISERABLES, composer Basil Poledouris makes good use of a full orchestra - he never has too many instruments playing at once, yet he provides a large-scale, epic feel to the music.
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