Ludovico Einaudi - Doctor Zhivago

All Music Guide

Maurice Jarre's score to David Lean's 1965 bigscreen adaptation of Boris Pasternak's classic novel Doctor Zhivago remains one of the most memorable soundtracks in postwar Hollywood history scoring a 2002 British television miniseries remake would seem a thankless task at best and a fool's errand at worst, but Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi's Doctor Zhivago is as breathtaking as Jarre's original, yet cut from a very different cloth. Einaudi eschews the epic sweep and Russian instrumentation that characterized Jarre's efforts in favor of a minimalist approach differentiated by its nuanced, hypnotic piano melodies and placid atmosphere the main theme is as gentle and dreamlike as a lullaby, while a series of solo vocal performances capture the passion and melancholy of Pasternak's love story in ravishing detail. Forget the Jarre comparisons Einaudi's Doctor Zhivago is its own distinct creation, and a remarkable one at that.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide