Diva - Original Soundtrack Recording (1981)

I'll let this (mostly accurate) review do the heavy lifting on this one:

Stereo Review, December 1982, p. 110

I recently rewatched the movie; poorly edited, but it is visually stunning and has an exciting chase scene through the Paris Metro if you like that sort of thing. Roger Ebert enjoyed the film a great deal. I'll admit a brief scene at an '80s record store made me wax nostalgic, too:

I don't mind reading subtitles, but while watching I was reminded of how much of the French language I've forgotten over the past 30 years - I took two years of French in high school followed by two semesters in college and, sadly, I couldn't follow the dialogue at all.

Regardless, this 37 minute soundtrack CD serves the movie well and tracks fall into three categories: 1) the opera stuff, 2) Cosma's moody sythn-driven background music to create atmosphere for scenes, and 3) solo piano work for a beautiful love theme that is so derivative Erik Satie should have been credited. That said, it's all enjoyable as far as soundtrack music goes but, as mentioned above, "it doesn't mean much out of context." Nevertheless, when I saw this Rykodisc release with a smooth jewel case in a used CD bin, I couldn't resist.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Opera: tracks 1, 6, 12; soundtrack music: 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11; piano love theme: 2, 7

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The CD isn't much of a top-to-bottom listen, but a nice reminder of a very good summer in my life. Released in the US in 1982, I didn't see the movie until I learned of it during the summer of 1985. That was the summer after my freshman year in college and I worked at a local plumbing supply. The manager of the supply house became a close friend and he recommended this movie to me, among many others. When I think about it now, I can't believe the VHS of a sub-titled French movie was available in our little town's video store. Or had a Blockbuster location opened in town by then? Or maybe he taped the movie from HBO and handed me his VHS copy. Ah, well; one of the above scenarios has to be true.