In the notes to his 2018 release
Cinema
, violinist
Renaud Capuçon
spoke of "reservations" about recording film music as a classical musician. This time around, there are no such reservations, perhaps because the previous release was quite successful. There are several differences between the two albums that may work to the advantage of this 2024 release; at the very least,
Capuçon
is not repeating himself. One is that the violinist focuses exclusively on French music this time around; even the several extracts from various English-language films included, such as
Love Story
and
Lawrence of Arabia
, have French composers, and the album reflects on the strength of the French strain in Anglo-American film music. Another departure is that
has replaced the
Brussels Philharmonic
from the 2018 album with the smaller historical-instrument group
Les Siècles
. They don't seem to be using anything other than modern instruments, but the performances of the arrangements by
Cyrille Lehn
are able to sharpen the contrast between the "voices" of
and the orchestra under the baton of
Duncan Ward
. Beyond these differences, the album, like its predecessor, will expose non-French audiences to some excellent film tunes that they may not have known. Consider the somber
Concerto de l'Adieu
from the epic film
Dien Bien Phu
, a sort of docudrama about the 1954 battle that drove the French out of Vietnam. The
Decca
label contributes fine studio sound from the ONDIF studio in Alfortville to this strong crossover release from the increasingly popular
. ~ James Manheim