Elliot Goldenthal has been dubbed ‘the thinking man's composer’ by film-music collectors. A student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2002 for his score to the motion picture “Frida”, directed by his long-time partner Julie Taymor.
Recently, the celebrated composer spent some time in Manhattan Center's Studio Four, better known as the ‘Log Cabin’. Goldenthal and Ms. Taymor, along with various child actors, were engaged in recording activities related to Ms. Taymor's new production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, currently running at Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn.
However, this was far from Goldenthal's first work at Manhattan Center. For Frida, the orchestra recorded the movie's soundtrack in the Grand Ballroom, and the score for “Michael Collins” – another Goldenthal composition – was also recorded and mixed on the premises. For the film “Across the Universe” – also directed by Taymor – Goldenthal's score was recorded in the Grand Ballroom and mixed in the Log Cabin. The stereo release for the soundtrack album was also mixed at Manhattan Center.
Mr. Goldenthal said, “The tandem of the Log Cabin and the Grand Ballroom within the same building gives me, whether working on orchestral or intimate projects, a combination of a perfect environment acoustically and a welcomed place to realize all my musical objectives.”
Goldenthal has written works for concert hall, theater, dance and film. The composer's theater works include the Tony Award-winning carnival Mass Juan Darièn and The Green Bird.