While we were ecstatic to hear that Square Enix had taken us up on the suggestion we made to them over two years ago to release a piano collections CD from the first three games, I think we were all a little confused as to the change in naming convention from ‘piano collections’ to ‘piano opera.’ Can’t Square Enix stick to ANY of their conventions?
In any case, the title aside, this is the piano collections CD that you always wanted from the first three games.
Hit the jump for our full review.
So, PIANO OPERA FINAL FANTASY I/II/III. I thought they perhaps went with this naming scheme with the idea that they would incorporate lots of medleys and concert-style pieces into the album. This isn’t the case, however. The tracks tend to focus on a single theme, just as with past piano collections CDs, generally ranging from three to four minutes in length. In line with what I was thinking, there are a few medleys dedicated to town themes, battle themes, and the opening track which combines “The Prelude” with “Opening Theme” (the “Final Fantasy” theme or “Prologue” as I like to call it).
But before we get to that, let’s talk about arranger and performer Hiroyuki Nakayama. He has a long history of working with Uematsu and Square Enix on a wide array of titles and piano projects ranging from Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Guin Saga to Distant Worlds, PiA-COM II, and the Kingdom Hearts piano collections CDs. He has the experience, and it shows through in his arrangements that mostly stay true to the original compositions but incorporate all kinds of neat flourishes that inject his own style. This is particularly prevalent during the openings to each track which often get a little more elaboration before launching into Uematsu’s lovable melodies.
With that, let’s jump in, starting with the original Final Fantasy. After a pretty straightforward but surprisingly full sounding rendition of “The Prelude,” we get a decisive take on “Opening Theme” with a neat breakdown towards the end where Nakayama repeats some high-pitched chords before pausing altogether and starting back up. “Main Theme” is one of my favorite arrangements with its bright and bold approach, especially in its ascending and bass-heavy opening before launching into the playful melody we all know and love with some very fast playing. “Gulg Volcano” is the shortest track on the album at two and a half minutes, but I love it nonetheless with its jazzy spin and somewhat unsettling key change towards the end. Finally, “Matoya’s Cave” comes as much more contemplative and almost epic with its powerful chords providing an almost stop-and-go rhythm.
It’s then on to Final Fantasy II with “Main Theme.” It’s slow and melancholy, which is accented even more by the moving introduction. “Rebel Army Theme” is one of the tracks I was looking forward to the most, and it doesn’t disappoint, opening with a quick crescendo that will wake you up right in before the triumphant and elegantly arranged melody whisks you away into its fantasy world. “Tower of Mages” never struck me as a key theme from the game, and so I don’t have much attachment to it, but the arrangement is quite tense and foreboding, making for a memorable listening experience.
Final Fantasy III comes next, although I’m surprised to see “Elia, The Maiden of Water” absent. Still, the tracks represented are great. “The Boundless Ocean” receives a rather tumultuous arrangement with its powerful yet melancholy take on the theme. “Crystal Cave” was not a track I was particularly looking forward to, but proves to be one of my favorites with its slow buildup featuring fluttering piano notes and stray crystal-like notes towards the top of the keys. I really enjoy the separation of the high and low on this one, and it’s just fun to listen to. It takes a turn for the epic towards the end, standing out as one of the most memorable moments on the album. This is followed by what at first seems to be a sleepy lullaby-esque version of “Eternal Wind” that transforms into an energetic and upbeat overworld theme about midway through. The final track, “Final Struggle to the Death,” takes us through the final battle, spending about two minutes on an ominous and dissonant introduction before the explosive melody kicks in, closing out the album on a high note.
But I left out a few tracks. The two medleys I mentioned before. The first is titled “Town Medley” which unfortunately comes in at only a little over four minutes (I could have done with a 10-minute arrangement!). While the transitions aren’t particularly elaborate, the upbeat melodies of each theme just feel so right on the piano. A second medley, “Battle Medley,” incorporates all five battle themes (excluding final bosses), remaining true to the original melodies (completely fine by me) with better transitions between tracks.
In all, I’m impressed with this album. I was excited to see it finally happen, and despite my reservations regarding the album title, this is the piano collections album we always wanted. Nakayama does a fantastic job, and while I think the recently announced PIANO OPERA FINAL FANTASY IV/V/VI is highly unnecessary, I’m still looking forward to hearing what he does. Now we just have to ask where that Piano Collections Final Fantasy XII album is…
The packaging is pretty minimal aside from the cardboard slipcase that looks exactly the same as the cover and back of the jewel case. A brief booklet has photos from the recording session with Uematsu and Nakayama as well as track-by-track commentary from Nakayama. It’s available for 2,800 Yen from both CD Japan and Play-Asia.
Are you surprised to see this CD released? What are your thoughts on the title and Nakayama’s work in general?
Tags: Hiroyuki Nakayama, Music Reviews, Nobuo Uematsu, Piano, Piano Collections, Piano Opera, Reviews, Square Enix, Uematsu
I think this is called “Piano Opera” and not “Piano Collections” because it includes more than one game. And, IMO, Piano Opera IV-VI is highly necessary, because FF IV, V and VI Piano Collection arrangements were very, very weak (but, as you said, let’s see what will they do with them before judging). In any case, not only I think a Piano Opera IV-VI is absolutely necessary, but I strongly hope
they release a “FF I-III Piano Opera 2” as well, because it was a pity that so many good tracks were left out on this “FF I-III Piano Opera 1” album.
I also want to thank-you for suggesting this long waited album to Square-Enix.
Yeah, exactly. Opera to justify the medleys. I think it could have easily been called piano collections though, since that doesn’t refer to a single title.
I dunno, I really enjoyed the FFIV-VI piano collection CDs. The arrangements were straightforward, sure, but I don’t see any need to reinvent them. Record a collections for FFXII instead!
This is excellent news. I’ve always loved the piano collection series, ever since discovering the album for IV on the internet way, way long ago. Can’t wait to add this to my collection. And Jayson – thanks for your part in helping make this happen!
As for the collections for IV-VI, I’m with Jayson on that. I love those albums, and while I’ll readily admit they’re pretty basic (I wouldn’t call them weak), they match up well with the original soundtracks. Most of the themes from those games were simpler and highly melodic, as opposed to the more sweeping orchestral arrangements of today’s soundtracks, so I think the piano collections for those games are spot on. Now with that said, I absolutely wouldn’t be opposed to *more* piano arrangements from those games, but I don’t think it should be as much of a priority as finally rounding out the full collection with XII.
Speaking of XII, there’s an unofficial collection that somebody recorded here:
http://delldongo.free.fr/ff12/
Not the same as an official release, of course, but it’s much better than the nothing we’d otherwise have. I don’t really get why that soundtrack is so routinely ignored by Square. I really wish they (or Sakimoto) would do something new with it, whether piano or anything else.
Maybe ‘weak’ was a strong word, but I certainly would appreciate a more elaborated arrangements like they did on FFVII Piano. The more the merrier (after all, they released 2 (two) FF11 Piano Collections.
Thank-you for the FF12 piano links. I’m positive they will release an official piano collection for that game someday. We must not forget that FF7Piano also took some time to be released.
Wonderful write up and thanks for the work you put in to showcase the project. As a pianist and huge fan of the FF PC volumes, I see myself as a bit of an advocate on the artistic merit of this music and really believe this PO was a long time coming. I am excited about the next installment as well since although the audio albums are still readily available the scores to the PC for IV-VI are out of print and used copies fetch hundreds of dollars if you can find one at all!
Just wanted to let you all know that Yamaha Music Media (corp. Japan side) will be handling the publishing side of the official scores to the CD for performance/study. I have spoken with and preordered this with an authorized retailer of there (Japan) and we expect notes on paper so to speak around March 15 or so, no word on book II yet but a good guess is also a similar two week lag or so between CD and book for that one. I’ll update repost/reply when I hear back from my dealer and I get an actual pre-release order and shipment date on that one too.
For the most part they tend to be well written pianistically from a performer’s perspective (i.e. they fall in well and logically with what our hands should be doing at the piano), so I don’t expect these scores to disapoint and am excited about learning them in 2012!
Thanks again for the review, keep us posted!!
Considering FFXI has over 8 discs’ worth of OST content, I think it’s fair that they did two separate piano collections. But the point is noted, hsilva.
And Scriabinoff, feel free to keep US posted on these piano scores as they are released! I didn’t pick up the KH ones, but I own all the books for piano collections VII~XIII. I’d love to get the IV V VI individuals, but it turns out both the old NTT prints *and* the reprinted individual books (minus the CD) are super-rare and majorly expensive. I will be buying the sheet music for FF I-II-III, for sure.
My CD just arrived (yeah, pitty I have to wait for weeks, but it is always worth it) and I’m listening right now.
I was pretty impressed with the arrangements and I like it very much. I didn’t really get the “opera” title, but your comments cleared me up! Thanks!
Also, I didn’t know this blog (got here by VGMdb). As a dying fan of Game music, composers and arrangements I’ll be happy to be regular reader.