Mention the name George Kallis and I straight away think Melody, richness and emotive themes. I think that pretty much sums up this talented film music composer and this description is I think a pretty fair account of his latest score. LEV YASHIN THE DREAM GOALKEEPER. Films about fact-based sport events or sporting biographies always seem to be particularly fruitful in the musical score department, fruitful as in inspiring, thematic and invigorating, and this work is no exception to that rule. It is a score that is overflowing with a powerful and lush musical persona. There is a grandiose feel to it in places almost epic in fact, but through the proud thematic material there are glimpses of intimacy, poignancy and a sense of the personal and melancholy. The score is as far as I can make out mostly symphonic, although it does contain support from synthetic instrumentation, its also a soundtrack that contains a handful of slightly up tempo pieces, as in the opening cue DRIVING THROUGH MOSCOW which opens with a piano and cello that is underlined by a lone horn, the composer adding subtle strings to embellish and add weight to them, the piece then moves up a gear tempo wise, with a light and pleasant theme performed by guitar, strings and a solo trumpet, before it moves forward and is given momentarily to the string section, before arriving at its conclusion. Track number two, DYNAMO VS TORPEDO is a slightly more upbeat cue, strings again providing the backbone of the piece supported by horns that are performed in a John Barry-esque manner. The strings remain melodic and are enhanced further by driving but at the same time subtle strings that are performed below the main melody, add to this a tense and nervous atmosphere realised by further brass and percussive elements and it makes for a cue that is entertaining and slightly apprehensive, building the momentum and fashioning a nervous atmosphere as we wait for it to reach its crescendo. The work is filled with solo performances as in piano, violin and cello, and the overall sound of the score is a compelling and pleasing one, there are emotive and poignant compositions in their abundance, but these effecting and haunting interludes seem to creep up on one, and become even more emotional depicting a sadness and also a sense of achievement throughout. The composer also utilises choir within a handful of the cues to give them an even more impacting sound and comparisons can be drawn between this and another of the composers works, THE LAST WARRIOR from 2017. As I have said this is an affecting work, and one that fuses several styles giving it an overall sense of power and a great degree of quality, available digitally on MOVIE SCORE MEDIA and on Compact disc on KeepMoving Records. Recommended.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 