MovieScore Media releases Frank Ilfman's original score for the Tehran-set Mossad thriller The Operative. Based on Yiftach R. Atir's book, The English Teacher, Yuval Adler's The Operative is a taut psychological thriller about a young Western woman recruited by the Mossad to go undercover in Tehran where she becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler and her subject...

The soundtrack for The Operative is atmospheric, tense and engaging - all the hallmarks of a strong thriller score. If you listen closely you'll also pick up on the fact that a lot of the themes have quite a lot of depth to them. There are layers upon layers that shift and change as the music rolls on.

Discussing the score, composer Frank Ilfman says: "... it was the perfect place to use some old synthesizers that are not always in tune and can give almost a live flowing texture to the large and heavy low based orchestra. We used an 80 Piece orchestra with a large string section with extra cellos and basses recorded at Teldex Studios in Berlin to give that extra low end textures to convey the thriller and sense of danger in the film. For Rachel, I wanted something that can still give a sense of deep troubling emotional and found a solo harp to be the perfect instrument as it can sound beautiful and gentle yet be uneasy when needed."

There's a lush John Barry vibe on tracks like 'The File', a dark brooding menace on pieces like 'The Mossad' and beautiful melancholy bases to tracks like 'Rachel's Theme' and 'The Informant'.

This is an album you'll want to spend a lot of time getting to know. There are so many interesting and diverse themes here that you'll be compelled to return to it time and time again.

9

Darren Rea