The sound quality of Nicholas & Alexandra is indeed not much good, a kind of "stereo" but it certainly sounds like taken from the vinyl. Lady Caroline Lamb has considerably better sound quality but I believe it also comes from a vinyl source.
For me this release was still obvious to get because I have never owned either of the vinyls, but if you have these then I'm not sure about recommending the CD. I'm happy with having the CD, but with a thorough transfer of the LP you might achieve a similar quality (in the first case especially).

42zaphod, January 27, 2007; 6:16 PM

Not to forget, LADY CAROLINE LAMB is available on a great regular EMI release, coupled with MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. A highly recommendable 79 minute CD, available very cheap. :-)

handstand, January 27, 2007; 7:03 PM

That's true now but it wasn't available when I was purchasing the Artemis CD.

42zaphod, January 27, 2007; 7:05 PM

Thanks folks. I have the EMI Murder on the Orient Express/Caroline Lamb, and also the Elegy of
Caroline Lamb on the Bay Cities Enchanted April release (with yet another suite of Orient
Express). I have LP's of all Bennett scores since the 1970-s and played them endlessly. I was
after an improved sound quality version of Nicholas and Alexandra, but now I know I better
stick to my original LP and wait for a commercial release rather than pay a handsome price for a
nasty bootleg. Maybe EMI could release it coupled with Far from the Madding Crowd, that would
be a jewel.

chris, January 29, 2007; 4:51 AM

Are there any other Bennett scores generally available? I always lament that Bennett wasn't more prolific. It was great to see him reappear not long ago with Gormenghast. The Billion Dollar Brain has a score with many fine Bennett moments (especially during the haunting Helsinki snow scenes). I, too, have played my Nicholas and Alexandra and Lady Caroline Lamb LPs frequently over the years. The latter film itself was a fizzle (I wonder if this was the end of Robert Bolt's enchantment by Sarah Miles?), but the LP cover/poster art (somehow incorporating tons of busy images from the film into Lady C's hair-do) makes you realize why LPs are worth keeping. Not to mention the very fine score.

sfs, February 27, 2007; 4:19 AM

Just a few of Bennett's scores are still readily available. Apart from 'Enchanted April' (also
available on a CD from BBC Music Magazine, you find it sometimes at eBay), 'Equus' and
'Murder on the Orient Express (with or without Lamb)' are still easy to find. 'Far from the
Madding Crowd' is already harder to find, especially the expanded version on Sony special
products. But I must say this release is very much worth getting. 'Sherlock Holmes in New
York' (only released last year on Intrada) is also hard to find now ONLY because it was
coupled with a Delerue score. I hate that kind of compilation. Stick to one composer when
you team up scores. Delerue fans probably hate the Bennett music and Bennett fans miss
out on this sort of CD because it's sold out before it's even released. Even two seperate short
CD's is a better solution in my opinion. We are still waiting for a proper CD of 'Nicholas and
Alexandra' and 'Billion Dollar Brain' as well as 'Yanks' and 'Return of the Soldier'. Why was
'Sherlock Holmes' not coupled with any of these by Intrada? Probably a question of rights.

chris, February 27, 2007; 5:36 AM

A Bennett soundtrack probably not worth re-releasing on DVD is one that I have on LP: L'imprecateur. From a mid-70s French comedy. Thanks for the suggestions above.

sfs, March 3, 2007; 1:33 AM

I am looking for the Nicholas and Alexandra Theme song which is almost pure violin and is very haiunting and enjoyed by my father and I when I worked in his basement assembling electronics in the 1980s. He passed in 1995 and I have been looking for over 10 years. to no avail.

t, March 16, 2007; 8:09 PM