Varèse Sarabande releases Rachel Portman's score for Belle. The movie is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield and his wife, Belle’s lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the colour of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar’s son bent on change who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield’s role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England...

Rachel Portman's score for Belle contains 23 tracks (41 min, 16 sec) of pure beauty. The music contains such an abundance of deep and satisfying themes that it's almost impossible to chose single tracks to add to your playlist. This is an album that needs to be listened to all the way through to really get the best out of it.

While there are slow builds that reach a crescendo ('Lord Mansfield Watches John'), the majority of the segments on here are just straight out deep and powerful themes. There isn't a bland track here, or a wasted note, just wall to wall beautiful music.

This is an album I highly recommend lovers of classical music and beautiful scores pick up as soon as possible.

10

Darren Rea