"Clausura" is one of those Piciconi soundtracks I don't really like, but I'm only familiar with the short, two-fer version: I'll try to seek out the Japanese version.
Your very Welcome the only Verita Piccioni cd I did not pick up was Playgirl'70 already owned the Avanz cd from 1997 always thought it sounded good but after listening to the verita cds I find it lacking way behind I love that score also the other piccioni scores they did which Verita have not redone are not as exciting. I'm sure we will be seeing some more Piccioni releases out on Quartet's label I hope to see a return of Verita Note there last cd was out on 24th November 2010 Carlo Savina's
1001 Nights of Pleasure Which is very pleasurable indeed sound quality is superb and the mono score they brought out for Savina's A Gentar Si Nuore Facile is one of best sounding Mono recordings I have heard.
Thanks again, everyone. A real treasure trove of information!
This one is not to exciting but there is still some very good tracks on it Scusi, Lei È Favorevole O Contrario?
A quick, slightly off-topic question if I may. The store from which I bought the 3 Piero albums I have so far had maybe 15 or so Avanz CDs like the one above. i.e. jewel case with mini booklet and disc itself visible.
Most of these were by Ennio, two were by Piero and one or two by Armando Trovaioli (sorry I don't recall the titles). I realize these are basically boots and are often (always?) sourced from LPs.
Despite the source, my question is: are any of these Avanz releases worth getting? Which ones are to be avoided? Are any even considered to be essential (within this genre)?
Despite the source, my question is: are any of these Avanz releases worth getting? Which ones are to be avoided? Are any even considered to be essential (within this genre)?
Thanks, as always, for your invaluable help!
Can't help you much on this, I'm afraid - don't honestly know if the Avanz CDs are illegitimate.
I don't consider them worth getting, unless they happen to be the only versions currently available.
None are essential to me, as I only own 1 Avanz CD myself. So I managed to amass a significant collection without that label, haven't I?
I don't understand why "The Tenth Victim" has disappeared from the catalog. There was an Easy Tempo release on both LP and CD. Many Easy Tempo releases have stayed in print, but not the Tenth Victim.
One of my greatest scores ever was finding a mint copy of the original US Mainstream pressing of "The Tenth Victim" for a dollar!
Most of these were by Ennio, two were by Piero and one or two by Armando Trovaioli (sorry I don't recall the titles). I realize these are basically boots and are often (always?) sourced from LPs. Despite the source, my question is: are any of these Avanz releases worth getting? Which ones are to be avoided? Are any even considered to be essential (within this genre)?
You have to differentiate between the older and the newer Avanz CDs. From the end of the 90s onwards till about 2005 Avanz had a contract with GDM so that the about 30-35 CD albums they released during that time were done in collaboration with GDM in Italy and did all come from the old General Music catalogue that GDM holds. So no problem with all these CDs, because real original masters from Italy were used. Verita Note later on did a lot of CD reissues with sonical improvements and expansions on some of them, but nevertheless these were legitimate CDs. The mastering for them was almost always done by Claudio Fuiano in Rome. The Piccioni score SCUSI LEI É FAVOREVOLE for example - only available on an Avanz CD from 1998 till now - is one of those and STORIA DI UNA MONACA DI CLAUSURA is one of the very last of this General Music series. Then after 2005 the contract with GDM probably ended and with Verita Note GDM then did find a new Japanese partner who licensed scores (mainly Piccioni and Morricone) from them. So all those Avanz CDs from the last maybe 3 years - starting with all their Cometa LP transfers (mainly the Morricone ones) - are of course not legitimate and were also not done in collaboration anymore with Italian labels/music publishers. They did quite simply start to copy old LPs from different labels for these new CD releases. So a big difference to their collaboration they had had before with GDM.
Are there any of those older Avanz releases that you recommend that I should have a look for?
It depends on what you are looking for. Almost all of the legitimate Piccioni and Morricone scores on Avanz had later on (mostly expanded) re-releases on Verita Note, on GDM itself or even on other labels like Dagored or Saimel. Besides the two Piccioni titles already mentioned above I see only CONTESTAZIONE GENERALE and INGHILTERRA NUDA which in complete form did only come out on Avanz about 5-10 years ago. And there are some Trovajoli scores - mainly the lounge ones from the end of the 60s - which were released on Avanz and did not get another expansion since then. These would be ADULTERIO ALL'ITALIANA, DON GIOVANNI IN SICILIA, LA FAMIGLIA BENVENUTI and VEDO NUDO. Also Bacalov's ROMA BENE seems to be only available on Avanz. But it is still possible that any of those may get a re-release in the near future. Either from GDM, from Saimel or maybe even from Quartet Records.
Ken there are four rare Trovaioli titles that I know of that have never been released by any other label two of which I own.
Vedo Nudo has some very good tracks but it’s a bit of an odd listen the film as far as I know was made up of a number of short films so the music has no real connective flow to it.
Don Giovanni in Sicilia is very good indeed one of my favourites
Not had the pleasure to hear these last two but have heard some of the music from YouTube clips which I liked
LA FAMIGLIA BENVENUTI (1968) ADULTERIO ALL'ITALIANA (1966)
I don't understand why "The Tenth Victim" has disappeared from the catalog. There was an Easy Tempo release on both LP and CD. Many Easy Tempo releases have stayed in print, but not the Tenth Victim.
On the bright side, its unavailabilty makes it a strong candidate for a reissue.
It is very hard for me to decide on just a few when there are so many that I love many of them have already been mentioned by everyone.
Mitch the Verita cds are not overly pricey if you buy them from Ark Square in Japan the postage was only something like $4 when I ordered two titles from them in December to the UK think the discs worked out about £20 each which is not much more than a hillside title. http://www.arksquare.net/index_main.html
Peccato Mortale (No encontré rosas para mi madre) never seems to get mentioned it is very good indeed.
Thank you for the info but I'm afraid GBP20/disc is a little too steep for my pocket these days on music I don't know. Which I suppose is another way of saying that I'm envious but not that envious ...
It's only John Barry music which will have me spending that sort of money on a single score. But thanks for the suggestion and I shall keep a look out for any bargains!
I bought I Giovani Tigri three times first the Dagored (2004) then later I picked up a really cheap copy of Avanz disc (1997) because I noticed that it seemed to be a totally different edit which it is. Then decided to check out the Verita Note cd for the same reasons all three are totally different edits and arrangements and track titles very strange what has happened this score over the years. Only the title track from the Dagored cd seems to be the only thing carried forward to the Verita cd.
The Verita disc has the film score in Full Stereo the separation of the instruments is incredible
Forgot to mention that I don't own any of the Avanz Morricone cds and that I find Piccioni's Contestazione Generale very lack lustre.
Inghilterra Nuda from the notes the producers of the film wanted themes that Piccioni previously used for many of his other scores Fumo Di Londra, I Giovanni etc etc...
So this is the reason that I cannot really seem to enjoy this one it's not that the music is bad I'd much rather listen to those individual scores in full.
Most of those Ennio titles are likely to be released soon and expanded by Cometa themselves.
Really enjoyed that clip, wayoutwest! Looking forward to receiving the disc (coming Friday).
Thanks a lot, Stefan - that's VERY useful information.
I actually dropped by the store again today and the two by Piero were in fact the two you mentioned:
SCUSI LEI É FAVOREVOLE and STORIA DI UNA MONACA DI CLAUSURA
I guess I'll go back again tomorrow and pick them up - they were pretty cheap.
Are there any of those older Avanz releases that you recommend that I should have a look for?
Went back and picked up "Scusi..." and "Storia..." today (about USD 10 each). Will post my thoughts later after having a listen. (Now Playiing is "White Dog" by Ennio which arrived in the mail today).
Thanks to your information Stefan, I avoided those other Avanz discs - all the Ennio were from 2005-2007 and the Armando discs did not include any of the four mentioned up thread.
I think between the Piero disc I got on Saturday, the two today, the four being delivered on Friday, as well as the couple I already had, I've got more than enough to be getting on with for now. Thanks once again everyone for the wonderful advice offered in this thread - outstanding stuff!
Went back and picked up "Scusi..." and "Storia..." today (about USD 10 each). Will post my thoughts later after having a listen. (Now Playiing is "White Dog" by Ennio which arrived in the mail today)...
... I think between the Piero disc I got on Saturday, the two today, the four being delivered on Friday, as well as the couple I already had, I've got more than enough to be getting on with for now. Thanks once again everyone for the wonderful advice offered in this thread - outstanding stuff!
Yes, feel free to write about those Piero discs you've gotten and how they measure up to your expectations (and how off-target or on-target we were for suggesting them )
I realize you've went on a "binge" of Piero and have gotten your "fill" for now. Nevertheless, I hope your collection (over time) won't remain at only 10 Piero discs or so.
Are you a film buff, Ken G, as much as a music fan?
If so, hope you don't mind me suggesting to check out DVDs of some of the early films scored by Piccioni.
Not sure if you've got a region-free DVD player (and I doubt HMV over there stocks Region 1), but the Criterion Collection is the best place to start regarding early 1960s black-and-white cinema:
Thanks for those movie recommendations, ToneRow. Although not always possible/practical, I like to watch the movies of the soundtracks I have. Often it happens the other way round, of course! The other night I watched "The Stranger" and really enjoyed it...
And speaking of "The Stranger", the OST, as well as the others I ordered from HMV, showed up earlier than expected this week. As a result, I've been listening to Piero almost non-stop for the past 7 days!
Here are my quick thoughts after just a few listens to each one (in no particular order):
"Scusi, lei è favorevole o contrario?" As mentioned up-thread, not the most exciting album ever - but I wasn't expecting much. Having said that, I enjoyed it more second and third time.
Storia di una monaca di clausura Liked this a lot. Even though it's mostly orchestral, almost classical, I really enjoyed the atmosphere it created.
La Volpe Dalla Coda Di Velluto A little disappointed after one or two listens - maybe my expectations were too high? But came round to it after I re-adjusted those expectations. Still, a bit too sweet for me - although I'm getting used to orchestral works, I still like my sounds a bit more loungey/trippy/groovy. However, when it's good, it's VERY good...
Lo straniero Probably my favorite of the new ones I heard this week. Mostly dark and atmospheric - not sugary at all! Listening again right now - maybe 5th or 6th time in the past 3 days. Wonderful stuff!
i Giovani Tigri Some great songs on this, but with 47 tracks, I need to spend more time with it to fully get a handle on it.
Il Monaco Again, more time needed...(EDIT: listening to this again now and loving it!)
I'll post more later when I've given these albums more of the time they deserve. Thanks again everyone for your recommendations - looking forward to exploring more of this (and similar) music...
"Scusi, lei è favorevole o contrario?" I have made an edit of this one that I enjoy
22. Re recorded main title 2. Party music 7. Zigeuner - Gipsy music 9. Night club combo 11. Funny version 18. Party music 5 1. Main titles
La Volpe Dalla Coda Di Velluto Give it a bit more time early days yet
Lo straniero You might also enjoy Uomini Contro and the recent Francesco Rosi disc that Tonerow mentioned featuring Le Mani Sulla Citta' , Salvatore Giuliano , Il Caso Mattei and the GDM disc for Il Terrorista
i Giovani Tigri Feel that the Verita disc is a bit to long myself but it does contain some very good music not found on the other versions I have not got around to making a re edit of this one yet.
It's gratifying to learn that you like very much a number of titles which we suggested that we shouldn't mind at all if you happen to dislike one (or just not like as much as expected).
Regarding further recommendations, I think all the significant "dramatic" Piero soundtracks (which you apparently love) have already been cited above (if they are in print).
As I mentioned, my favorite Piero score is IL FARO IN CAPO AL MONDO (LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD), but this is Out-Of-Print:
General Music LP
GDM CD
Other favorites include a grab-bag of hard-to-get stuff:
TOMBA APERTA ... UNA BARA VUOTO (my favorite Piero giallo) I like this one more so than VOLPE DALLA CODA DI VELLUTO, but VOLPE is in print and TOMBA is not. Plus, Piero's music is shared on the disc with Francesco Di Masi's RIPPER OF NEW YORK.
My 3rd favorite Piero is LO STRANIERO, which we now know we all love
IL DEMONIO is the only one on my Piero "top 5" for which I have no music except for what can be heard within the film (itself on Italian DVD with no subtitles).
A few YouTube clips are posted from this source:
There was an EP around the time (which I never saw available anywhere in the secondary marketplace):
IL MONACO, which we also love, is my 5th favorite Piero.
Rounding-out my "top 10" Pieros are further out-of-print items like:
IL BACIO
&
SENILITA even though I have this C.A.M. CD, I prefer the original LP cover!
(others from my top 10 were already mentioned above)
1962's THE CAPTIVE CITY may not be essential Piero music in terms of sonics and his usage of simple ethnic melody, but this is still "dramatic" Piero worthy of a mention:
