Reconstructed for CD release by John Morgan and performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Max Steiner's score for the 1944 motion picture The Adventures of Mark Twain remains a vivid portrait of the kind of wry, folksy Americana the author virtually defines. Steiner's muscular melodies draw much of their inspiration from Twain's beloved Mississippi River, employing strings and woodwinds to communicate the down-home charms of life on the water. The overall mood is light, with only the gorgeously pensive love theme "The Squirrel-Livy" and the self-explanatory "Sorrow" digging deeper into the author's interior world. Naxos's DVD-Audio 5.1 Surround Sound version is a sonic marvel, but even the standard CD edition sounds wonderful. ~ Jason Ankeny