Stefan very good leads . It is Le Grande Olimpiade . Composed in 1961. There is an old LP RCA Victor Internacional (1 track). The music it's fantastic.I recommend the fabulous album released by Saimel Gli Invencibli Tre that contains ??a wonderful suite of Vaticano II .
Are you sure since RCA is not possible for Alhambra and Stefan mentioned 1960? In any case, I'm really looking forward to all 3 Lavagnino releases.
My own Lavagnino requests are:
Un corpo caldo per l'inferno (1968) Sapaveno solo uccidere (1968) Scusi lei conosce il sesso? (1968)
A very good guess, Petruccio. Indeed it will be LA GRANDE OLIMPIADE. The documentary about the Summer Olympics in Rome was produced in 1960 (shooting took of course place in August/September 1960), not in 1961, and also the music was of course composed in 1960. The film was then released in early January 1961 in Italian cinemas. Therefore some reference books take the release dates and mention 1961, whereas the year of production was in fact 1960. More often you will find 1960 than 1961 in books even though the IMDB gives the later date. As to the US RCA LP "Music And Songs From Italian Films", it did contain not the main theme from LA GRANDE OLIMPIADE, but a lilting romantic theme called "Vecchia Trastevere" whistled by Lavagnino himself which appears in the middle of the film when tourists do some sightseeing around Rome. You have to consider that almost all of the selections on this RCA LP were not at all part of the RCA catalogue, but came from different music publishers - above all Nazionalmusic, CAM or Cristaldi Film. The music publisher for GRANDE OLIMPIADE was also not RCA, but Istituto Luce. Therefore there is nothing in the Italian RCA archives from the GRANDE OLIMPIADE music. And for such Nazionalmusic titles like Rustichelli's L'UOMO DI PAGLIA or UN MALEDETTO IMBROGLIO on this LP compilation also no original tapes have been preserved. But RCA did release a single and an EP of these scores a few years before, although they were not the actual music publisher. This is an important fact. Around 1960 there was therefore a bit of confusion which means that a score which got an EP or single release on RCA at that time was often owned by a completely different music publisher. Only a few years later things got sorted out much better and from about the mid-60s onwards you could almost always say that a score released on an Italian RCA LP was of course also part of their catalogue. So this is a complex matter and you have to really differentiate here. By the way, Armando Trovajoli did also contribute to the LA GRANDE OLIMPIADE score - some of his more jazzy pieces will be in the bonus section of the CD. The first 30 minutes of the film are on Youtube and you can listen to Lavagnino's impressive main theme immediately after the church bells at the beginning:
Thanks Stefan . Fantastic video and music. Publication of La Grande Olimpiade seems a great news . I think it's one of the best soundtracks composed by Lavagnino . I have a doubt. If the music composed for this film was also used in Vaticano II , he never guess this title will be published as it would repeat the same music . I hope eager to enjoy the edition as I have enjoyed so far with my old LP Cinevox of Vatican II .
Indeed it will be LA GRANDE OLIMPIADE. The documentary about the Summer Olympics in Rome was produced in 1960 (shooting took of course place in August/September 1960), not in 1961, and also the music was of course composed in 1960. The film was then released in early January 1961 in Italian cinemas. Therefore some reference books take the release dates and mention 1961, whereas the year of production was in fact 1960. More often you will find 1960 than 1961 in books even though the IMDB gives the later date.
I'm a little confused over this, Mr. Schlegel.
Will this forthcoming Alhambra CD on La Grande Olimpiade list 1960 or 1961 as the copyright year?
If it's going to be considered as 1960, then this implies that your 2nd album in the Alhambra pipeline will be Lavagnino music recorded during 1961. But if La Grande Olimpiade will be copyrighted 1961 on the CD credits, then your 2nd Lavagnino title will actually be from a film released during 1960.
I apologize in advance if these questions are a nuisance, but I'm fascinated with recording session dates.
I have another question (more generalized about Lavagnino and not specific to Alhambra). Does the Lavagnino Estate (Lavagnino's 3 daughters) possess recordkeeping data on their father's recordings? Even if the master tapes on such items as Messalina or The Savage Innocents cease to exist in the archives, do the dates of their recording sessions continue to be preserved on documentation (like personal diaries or musician union's sheets or on whatever else might contain such information)?
ZardozSpeaks, it is no problem at all if you call me Stefan. I don't think there is much confusion here: LA GRANDE OLIMPIADE is considered as being from 1960, because it is totally clear that the recording sessions took place before Christmas 1960 - either in November or maybe early December 1960. The other Lavagnino project which will be released on Alhambra after LA GRANDE OLIMPIADE is the one from 1961. And I can also already tell you from the infos on the back covers of the tape boxes that the recording sessions for this second score took place on two days in July 1961 (July 6th and 7th).
But there are big differences as to these boxes which contain the tapes - sometimes there is such info from the recording studio, sometimes not at all. Often at least the "M" numbers of the tracks which were recorded are written down on those back covers and can be easily seen. On the other hand, there is no real documentation or cue sheets which is probably the thing you mean. So in the estate there is no such systematical documentation on all the dates when the recording sessions of the scores took place. Of course, we don't have the composer's diaries at hand for these CD projects - that would be a bit too much to ask for - and I also don't know if they really exist. However. all of the composer's full scores/handwritten manuscripts are accessible in the Biblioteca Luigi Chiarini in the Centro Sperimentale in Rome. The titles and some infos about them can be seen online here if you just search for the name "Lavagnino": http://scuolacinema.sebina.it/SebinaOpacSCR/Opac?sysb=&fromBiblio=
Much really depends on pure chance and some luck if tapes for a old score are there or not. Above all, you have to consider that Lavagnino himself was not a real archivist and also not that much interesetd in listening to his own music he had composed years before. He rather wanted to create something new than to look back on something from the past. And many of those tapes are still there because his brother had some interest in them and asked him to keep them.
From what little I know about the Lavagnino estate and from what you communicated here, it seems that Lavagnino's family has done more to preserve A.F.'s music than the composer himself ever had done.
I've noticed, too, that there have been various Lavagnino credits: sometimes his first two names are both spelled out, other times he's credited as "Angelo F." or simply "Francesco" or "Angelo". Were the reasons for these permutations a result of the films' producers or the music publishers? (I recall reading about a similar situation with Carlo Rustichelli using the name "Elvirust" on some of his projects due to rights issues and/or international distributions with Anglicized names, etc.)
And I can also already tell you from the infos on the back covers of the tape boxes that the recording sessions for this second score took place on two days in July 1961 (July 6th and 7th).
But there are big differences as to these boxes which contain the tapes - sometimes there is such info from the recording studio, sometimes not at all. Often at least the "M" numbers of the tracks which were recorded are written down on those back covers and can be easily seen. On the other hand, there is no real documentation or cue sheets which is probably the thing you mean. So in the estate there is no such systematical documentation on all the dates when the recording sessions of the scores took place. Of course, we don't have the composer's diaries at hand for these CD projects - that would be a bit too much to ask for - and I also don't know if they really exist. However. all of the composer's full scores/handwritten manuscripts are accessible in the Biblioteca Luigi Chiarini in the Centro Sperimentale in Rome. The titles and some infos about them can be seen online here if you just search for the name "Lavagnino": http://scuolacinema.sebina.it/SebinaOpacSCR/Opac?sysb=&fromBiblio=
Thanks for this link, too.
Why haven't other labels such as Beat or Digitmovies listed the dates of recordings (when the information is available)? For example, it appears to me that Lavagnino probably wrote and recorded L'Assedio di Siracusa after completing Jovanka e le Altre. Yet both the Cometa album and the Digitmovies album don't contain the session dates in their liner notes.
Would it be possible to construct a 'timeline' in which each title by Lavagnino can be listed in order of completion (which would be different that the order when the films premiered)?
I have also often noticed these permutations where sometimes only his first name is spelled out or sometimes only the second one (Francesco) or even both names are abbreviated as "A.F.", but I don't have a real explanation for this or ever found one. It could be that his entire name was just too long for the credit in the Main Title of a film and so some producers decided to remove one name or to abbreviate it. I don't think that there were rights issues involved. With Rustichelli it is a bit different because he used the names Jim Murphy or Evirust (not Elvirust) for films like LA FRUSTA E IL CORPO or I LUNGHI CAPELLI DELLA MORTE where also the director and others in the crew took over such Anglicizied names. The Evirust for example came about because the first name of Rustichelli's wife was Evi. Therefore the combination of "Evi" and the short form of "Rustichelli".
Why haven't other labels such as Beat or Digitmovies listed the dates of recordings (when the information is available)? For example, it appears to me that Lavagnino probably wrote and recorded L'Assedio di Siracusa after completing Jovanka e le Altrel. Yet both the Cometa album and the Digitmovies album don't contain the session dates in their liner notes.
Would it be possible to construct a 'timeline' in which each title by Lavagnino can be listed in order of completion (which would be different that the order when the films premiered)?
I can't answer the question why Beat and Digitmovies don't list the information with the data of the recordings, but probably they don't regard it as so important for their CDs. This is a question you have to ask them for, not me.
L'ASSEDIO DI SIRACUSA was released in Italy in mid-March 1960, JOVANKA in mid-February 1960. Therefore it is most likely that JOVANKA was also composed before ASSEDIO.
However, it will be extremely difficult to reconstruct an exact "timeline" for all of the Lavagnino titles. The only way would be for you to personally consult the Centro Sperimentale in Rome and study on the spot there all the manuscripts and documents with Lavagnino's own annotations where you will then also find a lot of these data. Probably there is no other way.
Stefan, is there any chance for a release of Maestro Lavagnino's recently-discovered score for Orson Welles' never-completed (but finally assembled) MERCHANT OF VENICE?
Apparently, this live performance has been transcribed from the original recording which exists on one small 1/4 inch tape in the Lavagnino estate. I have seen that tape myself there a few years ago so it is not a real new discovery for me. There are probably about 20-25 minutes of music on this tape. The rights of the score belong to the Lavagnino family so it could certainly be released on CD in future. However, as the score is rather short, it would have to be coupled with something else.
The rights of the score belong to the Lavagnino family so it could certainly be released on CD in future. However, as the score is rather short, it would have to be coupled with something else.
Thanks for that deep-background report, Stefan. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
And I can also already tell you from the infos on the back covers of the tape boxes that the recording sessions for this second score took place on two days in July 1961 (July 6th and 7th).
Since the imminent album from Alhambra has already been established as the documentary "The Grand Olympics" (completed in 1960, but not shown until 1961), I'm continuing onwards with my guesswork for the next one in the pipeline.
Here's a list of films that Lavagnino scored which were premiered (or made) during the 2nd half of 1961 (because it was recorded in July of '61). These titles are followed by their genre, release date and production companies.
Orazi e Curiazi (historical) October 19, 1961 [Italy + Yugoslavia]
Le meraviglie di Aladino (aka "The Wonders Of Aladdin") (Bava fantasy) October 31, 1961 [Italy, France & U.S.A.]
L'ammutinamento (adventure) December 1, 1961 [Italy & France]
Madame Sans-Gêne (romance) December 22, 1961 [Italy, France & Spain]
I fratelli Corsi (action) December 22, 1961 [France & Italy]
Ursus e la ragazza tartara (adventure) December 30, 1961 [Italy & France]
I sogni muoiono all'alba (war drama) September 3, 2009 (?) [Italy]
Morte di un bandito (drama) no release date in IMDB [Italy]
Notice that 2 of these were premiered on the same date (Dec 22) and that the last 2 mentioned don't have a 1961 release date in IMDB. It's also possible that a recording done in July of '61 might also be for a film that wasn't shown until 1962 (or even later). In this event, I'll also include the French & Italian Ulisse contro Ercole - an adventure fantasy which was first shown February 3, 1962 in Italy
I have seen Le meraviglie di Aladino and it is mostly source arabic music, so not sure it would make a great release unless there are extra tracks not in the movie, though I would still buy it!
Notice that 2 of these were premiered on the same date (Dec 22) and that the last 2 mentioned don't have a 1961 release date in IMDB. It's also possible that a recording done in July of '61 might also be for a film that wasn't shown until 1962 (or even later). In this event, I'll also include the French & Italian Ulisse contro Ercole - an adventure fantasy which was first shown February 3, 1962 in Italy
You can already exclude ULISSE CONTRO ERCOLE. Moreover, this title is owned by Sugar/CAM and they should have the original tapes of the complete score. This would therefore be a project for example for the Digitmovies peplum series. The IMDB is not always totally reliable for such release dates of more unknown Italian films. MORTE DI UN BANDITO has an Italian censorship visa from October 12th, 1961, and I SOGNI MUIONO from September 21st, 1961. Normally, it's quite safe to asssume that the release date in Italian cinemas was just one or two weeks after such a visa had been issued. So both films then were released shorty after this date.
You can already exclude ULISSE CONTRO ERCOLE. Moreover, this title is owned by Sugar/CAM and they should have the original tapes of the complete score. This would therefore be a project for example for the Digitmovies peplum series. The IMDB is not always totally reliable for such release dates of more unknown Italian films. MORTE DI UN BANDITO has an Italian censorship visa from October 12th, 1961, and I SOGNI MUIONO from September 21st, 1961. Normally, it's quite safe to asssume that the release date in Italian cinemas was just one or two weeks after such a visa had been issued. So both films then were released shorty after this date.
Thanks for the additional info, Stefan.
So both Bandito and I Sogni Muiono were released during the last quarter of '61 (and are eligible to be a possible Alhambra album considering both were shown after the July '61 recording dates)
Hi, Stefan. Is the time ripe for anticipating the recorded-in-July-of-1961 Lavagnino soundtrack upcoming on Alhambra?
As I had already written in the LA VIACCIA thread, we will prepone now MACISTE CONTRO IL VAMPIRO (GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES) which will therefore be the next Lavagnino CD on Alhambra. I suppose that this CD can go to the pressing plant in early March so that I will announce it very soon here in about 2-3 weeks. We had a small problem with the first tape transfer of the "recorded in July 1961" soundtrack which in the meantime however has been solved. But the chronological order of the next three Lavagnino releases on Alhambra will be this one: 1) MACISTE CONTRO IL VAMPIRO (March 2016) 2) Score recorded in November 1961 3) Score recorded in July 1961
Number 2 will probably follow about 2-3 months after the MACISTE CD as the transfer of this score has also already been finished and the tracklisting has also already been made. At the moment the mastering is done.
I don't recall mention made before about the November of '61 recording. (but perhaps the title has already been referenced within earlier speculations?)
In addition to Lavagnino, Stefan, is it possible for Alhambra to release anything by Carlo Savina (either from the Savina estate or the C.A.M. archives @ Sugar)?
