Kritzerland continues to mine the MGM/UA soundtrack library for its latest release, a two-for-one CD. The disc, a limited edition of 1,000, contains the score to Bryan Forbes' 1967 thriller The Whisperers composed by the legendary John Barry as well as Richard Rodney Bennett's score to Sidney Lumet's 1977 adaptation of Peter Shaffer's play Equus. (Barry's very different score to The Deep has already enjoyed a terrific reissue earlier this year, courtesy our friends at Intrada, and it's been mentioned over at the Film Score Monthly message board that a reissue is forthcoming for Barry's period-defining score to 1965's The Knack...and How to Get It! There's simply no such thing as too much John Barry!)

The Whisperers hails from one of Barry's most fertile periods, during which the composer was already on top of the world scoring the filmed adventures of one Bond, James Bond. Even while creating those groovy, action-packed scores, Barry had other muscles to flex. The Whisperers starred Dame Edith Evans, then 79 years old, as an elderly woman left alone to contend with voices she hears, the whisperers of the title. Despite an Academy Award nomination for Evans, too few people saw this hauntingly unique picture. Barry's score is sensitive and low-key, far removed from his propulsive, contemporary work on the Bond films. He scored it for a chamber group, and if the tone is somber (broken only by a jazz interlude), The Whisperers has its share of morosely beautiful Barry melodies, essentially creating a moody tone poem.  This film was one of many collaborations between Barry and director Bryan Forbes; others include King Rat, Séance on a Wet Afternoon and the underrated, offbeat comedy The Wrong Box.

The Whisperers is well-paired with another disturbing British tale. Equus premiered on Broadway in 1974 with Anthony Hopkins starring as Martin Dysart, a doctor out to "cure" young Alan Strang, portrayed by Peter Firth, who has done the unthinkable to a number of horses. By the play's end, Dysart is irrevocably changed through his exploration of this troubled young man. Acclaimed director Sidney Lumet brought Equus to the screen, and while Firth reprised his role, Richard Burton (a replacement for Hopkins onstage) took over the role of Dysart. Bennett's visceral, somewhat disquieting music was scored entirely for strings, and its dark, brooding colors should make it an ideal match on CD for The Whisperers.

Both titles had received previous CD reissues as part of Rykodisc's MGM soundtrack series, but Kritzerland has joined them together with a difference. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Rykodisc releases was the decision to include dialogue snippets on most titles; the debate over dialogue on a soundtrack disc has long been a hot topic among film score collectors. For this release, Kritzerland's Bruce Kimmel has eliminated the dialogue present on The Whisperers completely. In the case of Equus, six spoken-word pieces did appear on the original United Artists LP as well as the Rykodisc reissue, so Kimmel has decided to retain those five monologues performed so resonantly by Richard Burton (plus one scene between Burton and Peter Firth) and sequence them at the disc's finish, so that Bennett's score can now be heard without interruption. James Nelson has remastered both titles.

Finally, three reissues have just been announced as part of Sony's Masterworks Broadway program in conjunction with disc-on-demand manufacturers Arkiv Music. October 19 brings the first-ever stereo CD release of Ervin ("It Was a Very Good Year") Drake's score to the 1964 musical What Makes Sammy Run? This brassy, exciting score features Steve Lawrence as the perpetually-scheming Sammy Glick and yielded the now-standard "A Room Without Windows." Sally Ann Howes (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and Robert Alda (Guys and Dolls, and also Alan's dad!) co-starred. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme's GL Music label had previously released a CD in mono, but Arkiv has utilized the original stereo master for its release.

On November 16, RCA Victor's "Living Stereo" 1958 studio cast album to Oscar Straus' operetta The Chocolate Soldier will be released, starring opera's Rise Stevens and Robert Merrill with support from Broadway's Peter Palmer (Li'l Abner) and Jo Sullivan (The Most Happy Fella). Last (alphabetically and in our little round-up here!) but not least is one of the most-demanded rare musical titles out there: The Zulu and the Zayda. The 1965 musical was composed by Harold Rome, of Wish You Were Here and I Can Get It For You Wholesale renown. This South Africa-set musical imagined the friendship between an elderly Jewish grandfather and the native he hires as his companion. The cast included stars Menasha Skulnik, Yaphet Kotto, Louis Gossett Jr. and Ossie Davis. The exotic Zulu and the Zayda finally hits the digital age on December 7. All three releases will be available on CD-R through Arkiv and as downloads from all major digital service providers.

The Whisperers and Equus can be ordered here at the cost of $19.98, with a release date of late November. However, pre-orders are likely to arrive one to five weeks in advance of that period.  You can read more about the upcoming Masterworks Broadway releases here. Hit the jump for track listings for all titles, and sound samples from The Whisperers and Equus!

The Whisperers/Equus: Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtracks (Kritzerland KR20017, 2010)

1. Main Title - The Whisperers
2. Sticks and Stones
3. The Three Attackers
4. Nobody and Nothing
5. Nobody and Nothing - Jazz
6. The Letter
7. The Razor Attack
8. We Danced Home Again
9. You're on Your Own Again
10. Are You There? - End Title
11. Main Title/The Hospital
12. The Beach/The Pictures
13. The Stables
14. The Field of Ha Ha
15. The Stabbing
16. Epilog
17. Monologue 1
18. Monologue 2
19. Monologue 3
20. Monologue 4
21. Monologue 5
22. Monologue 6

Tracks 1-10 from The Whisperers: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (United Artists UAS-4161, 1967)
Tracks 11-22 from Equus: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (United Artists UAS-30136, 1977)

What Makes Sammy Run?: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Columbia LP KOS-2440, 1964 - reissued Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv Music, 2010)

1. Overture - Steve Lawrence
2. New Pair of Shoes - Robert Alda, Steve Lawrence
3. You Help Me - Robert Alda, Steve Lawrence
4. Tender Spot - Sally Ann Howes
5. Lights, Camera, Platitude - Robert Alda, Sally Ann Howes, Steve Lawrence
6. My Hometown - Steve Lawrence
7. I See Something - Steve Lawrence
8. Maybe Some Other Time - Robert Alda, Sally Ann Howes
9. You Can Trust Me/A Room Without Windows - Steve Lawrence
10. Kiss Me No Kisses - Sally Ann Howes, Steve Lawrence
11. I Feel Humble - Sally Ann Howes
12. Something to Live For - Steve Lawrence
13. You're No Good - Sally Ann Howes
14. The Friendliest Thing - Steve Lawrence
15. Wedding of the Year - Company
16. Some Days Everything Goes Wrong - Steve Lawrence

The Chocolate Soldier: Studio Cast Recording (RCA Victor LP LSO-1506, 1958 - reissued Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv Music, 2010)

1. Introduction
2. My Hero
3. Sympathy
4. Seek the Spy
5. Finale
6. Our Heroes Come Home (The Fatherland is Free)
7. Alexus the Heroic
8. Never Was There Such a Lover
9. The Chocolate Soldier
10. The Tale of a Coat
11. That Would Be Lovely
12. Finale
13. Falling in Love
14. The Letter Song
15. Finale

The Zulu and the Zayda: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Columbia KOS-2880, 1965, reissued Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv Music, 2010)

1. Tkambuza
2. It's Good to Be Alive
3. Crocodile Wife
4. River of Tears
5. The Water Wears Down the Stone
6. Like the Breeze Blows
7. Oisgetzaichnet
8. Entr'acte
9. Some Things
10. Remember This (Zulu Love Song)
11. May Your Heart Stay Young
12. How Cold Cold Cold
13. Eagle Soliloquy
14. Finale