Music Composed byTom Twyker, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil
Rating: ****

When I first heard that Perfume: The Story of A Murderer was one of the finest scores of 2006, I was rather shocked. After all, the score was written by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil, the men responsible for the techno, electronic scores for Run Lola Run and The Princess and The Warrior along with the dreadful “In My Head” from The Matrix: Revolutions. Imagine my surprise when I found out that all the praise for Perfume was rightfully deserved.

The score opens with “Prologue, The Highest Point”. Wordless mixed choir (the State Choir Latvia) opens with one of the scores’ themes, an eerie, unsettling idea that still retains impressive lyricism. Eventually, the orchestra begins to add another dimension to the music, with the chorus continuing on with the thematic idea. This music then gives way to “Streets of Paris”, which introduces the score’s main theme. And what a main theme it is. Sweeping, bold, almost romantic, but tinged with a bit of tragedy with the addition of a bleating oboe that leaves the idea a bit unsettled.

As the score continues, the music fluctuates between the sharply romantic ideas alluded to by the main theme, and darker, more unnerving moments; this music does underscore the story of a serial murderer, after all. Several cues stand out from the rest, though. “Lost Love” once again features mixed choir singing a cappella, wordlessly singing beautiful, yet utterly tragic music. “Meeting Laura” is an outstanding, almost operatic aria, performed with crystal clarity by soprano Chen Reiss. What might be termed action music appears in “Grasse in Panic” and “Richis’s Escape”, while an eerie boy soprano solo (sung by Victor de Maiziere) highlights “Laura’s Murder”.

The album concludes in quite the dramatic fashion. “The Perfume” starts slowly, building ever onward with the aid of soprano Melanie Mitrano, until eventually the entire orchestra joins in with the soprano in a huge, drawn out rendition of the main theme. “The Crowd Embrace” returns to the a cappella full choir for more variations on the main theme, with a dark beauty conveyed by the performance. And, finally, the album wraps up with “Epilogue – Leaving Grasse”, which also features the choir performing the same theme the album opened with; a fitting bookend for a fine score.

As stated at the beginning of the review, I was pleasantly surprised by music written by Tykwer, Klimek, and Heil. While a bit overlong at seventy minutes, the score is of definite high quality. It is aided by appropriate orchestrations that don’t overstretch the core ideas of the music, and the performance of the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle is first rate, lending the music a level of delicateness and sophistication that might have been absent with an inferior orchestra. Set aside your apprehensions due to who the composers are; this album, this music, is richly rewarding.

Music Composed and Produced by Tom Twyker, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil; Conducted by Simon Rattle, Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker; Balance Engineer: Tobias Lehmann; Label: EMI Classics, (094637923320); Availability: In-print; U.S. Release Date: December 5, 2006.

01. Prologue / The Highest Point (1:51)
02. Streets Of Paris (3:10)
03. The Girl With The Plums (5:27)
04. Grenouille’s Childhood (5:16)
05. Distilling Roses (1:51)
06. The 13th Essence (2:29)
07. Lost Love (1:45)
08. Moorish Scents (5:15)
09. Meeting Laura (4:14)
10. The Method Works! (3:32)
11. Grasse In Panic (5:33)
12. Richi’s Escape (4:30)
13. Laura’s Murder (3:05)
14. Awaiting Excecution (3:06)
15. The Perfume (5:31)
16. The Crowd Embrace (3:04)
17. Perfume - Distilled (7:12)
Epilogue - Leaving Grasse (3:00)

Total Playing Time: 69:51