The Thief of Bagdad (Reconstructed Silent Film Score) [Live] Frankfurt Radio Symphony & Mark Fitz-Gerald

• 1 Prelude (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 06:03
• 2 The Holy Man (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:07
• 3 A Street in Bagdad (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:53
• 4 Hungar (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 03:01
• 5 The Magic Rope (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 03:09
• 6 The Mosque (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:53
• 7 The Thief at Work (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:13
• 8 Bird of Evil (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:36
• 9 The Palace at Ho Sho (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:15
• 10 Open Wide the Gates! (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:44
• 11 Eunuchs (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:03
• 12 The Princess Sleeps (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:00
• 13 The Bed Chamber (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:05
• 14 The Princess Aroused (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:37
• 15 Love Bird (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:36
• 16 The Prince of the Indies (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:03
• 17 Cham Shang the Great (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:08
• 18 Prince of the Isles (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 03:20
• 19 Hunt Him Down (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:00
• 20 Less Than a Slave (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:57
• 21 She Shall Choose Again (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:30
• 22 The Quest Begins (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:22
• 23 A Caravansary In the Desert (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:17
• 24 The Mountains of Dread Adventure (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 00:50
• 25 The Valley of Fire (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 00:41
• 26 The Flying Carpet (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:21
• 27 The Valley of the Monsters (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 00:40
• 28 The Cavern of the Enchanted Trees (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:03
• 29 The Magic Crystal (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:33
• 30 The Depths of the Midnight Sea (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:42
• 31 The Abode of the Winged Horse (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 00:52
• 32 The Island of Wak (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:01
• 33 The Magic Apple (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 02:38
• 34 The Citadel of the Moon (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:15
• 35 Poisoned (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:26
• 36 Which Gift Is Rarest? (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:26
• 37 Bide Your Time (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 00:47
• 38 The Magic Army (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:50
• 39 Happiness Is Earned (From "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924]) [Live] 01:57
• Total Runtime 01:13:54

Info for The Thief of Bagdad (Reconstructed Silent Film Score) [Live]

First recording of the original score for the 1924 silent film-starring Douglas Fairbanks.

Written almost 100 years ago, The Thief of Bagdad is one of the greatest ever film scores and incredibly, has never been recorded until now FHR are honoured to be able to release the first recording of this wonderful score. Recorded in 2019, this recording features one of greatest European orchestras, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, along with conductor Mark Fitz-Gerald who has an unparalleled reputation for performing the very specialised task of accompanying silent films live with orchestra.

The score was written by the American composer Mortimer Wilson at the specific request of the film's main star actor Douglas Fairbanks. The Thief of Bagdad is now widely considered one of the great silent films and Fairbanks's greatest work. For the first time, Fairbanks recognised the composer as a creative collaborator from the start in the overall composition of his film (Wilson spent many hours in the projection room working out precise timings for every scene). Wilson was essentially a classical composer. Indeed, you can hear influences of Puccini's aria Vissi d'arte from Tosca, hints of Wagner's Valkyrie, along with moments of Alban Berg, Reger and Tchaikovsky.

Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance writes, 'An epic romantic fantasy-adventure inspired by several of the Arabian Nights tales, The Thief of Bagdad is the greatest artistic triumph of Fairbanks's career. The superb visual design, spectacle, imaginative splendor, and visual effects, along with his bravura performance (leading a cast of literally thousands), all contribute to making this his masterpiece.'

Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Mark Fitz-Gerald, conductor

Recorded live at the Sendesaal, Hessischer Rundfunk, Frankfurt, Germany, 11 April 2019 by arrangement with Hessischer Rundfunk

Mark Fitz-Gerald
studied in London at the Royal College of Music, where his professors included Norman Del Mar, winning all the major prizes for both orchestral and operatic conducting. It was during this time that Henze invited him to take part in the first Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano, as a result of which he was invited regularly to Switzerland as Guest Conductor of the Basel Sinfonietta.

From 1983 to 1987 he was Artistic Director of the RIAS Jugendorchester (West Berlin) where his innovative Filmharmonic Concerts received much acclaim. He returned there to continue the series with the Berlin Rundfunkorchester in 1992. Since then he has performed the very specialised task of accompanying silent films live with orchestra, with much success in many countries and festivals throughout the world.

Described as “one of the indispensable Shostakovich interpreters of our time”, he has performed the Trauberg/Shostakovich classic New Babylon (1929) to great critical acclaim, in particular the Japanese premiere of the work (opening concert of the Tokyo Summer Festival in 2000) and at the Rotterdam Gergiev Festival 2001. With the help of Mrs Irina Shostakovich and Krzystof Meyer he restored the complete score to another Trauberg/Shostakovich film, Odna (1929), and conducted the world premiere (the first Shostakovich premiere for over twenty years) in Holland and later in Paris, with enormous success.

He conducted the United Kingdom premiere at the Barbican centre in 2006 and his restoration is now published in the new complete edition of the composer’s works. His critically acclaimed recording of Odna [8.570316] was followed by the no less successful The Girlfriends and other previously unrecorded works [8.572138]. In 2010 his accompaniment of the 1927 silent film ‘Wings’ with Carl Davis’ score at the Pordenone Festival was received with great critical and public acclaim.

In 1986 he was appointed Music Director of Kentish Opera, with whom he has conducted many successful productions. He has assisted regularly at the Vienna Staatsoper, as well as the Vienna Kammeroper. In 1992 he made his début at the Vienna Volksoper with The Cunning Little Vixen, and in 1994 conducted the world premiere of an opera by the Mexican composer Victor Razgado at Spoleto in conjunction with the Italian producer Luca Ronconi. In 1994 he conducted The Nutcracker for the Vienna Festival Ballet.

His career has brought guest engagements with orchestras throughout Europe and in Japan. From 1989 to 1993 he was Associate Conductor of the Orquesta do Porto, Portugal. He was Assistant Conductor in Strasbourg both at the Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Opéra du Rhin from 1997 to 2002. In 2012 he made his debut with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted the Swiss premiere of Debussy’s The Fall of the House of Usher with the Basel Sinfonietta. The following year he made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The 2013/14 season saw his debut with the Bochumer Symphoniker and the Wuppertal Sinfonieorchester. In 2016 at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival Fitz- Gerald conducted, to wide acclaim, his reconstruction of Mortimer Wilson’s vast 1924 score for the Douglas Fairbanks film The Thief of Bagdad. A second public performance, with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, recorded by Hessischer Rundfunk, took place in Frankfurt on 19 April 2019.

Booklet for The Thief of Bagdad (Reconstructed Silent Film Score) [Live]