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Posted: |
Feb 8, 2007 - 11:12 PM
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By: |
CAT
(Member)
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I will go on more tomorrow, but I'm really jazzed right now.
I just love this comment by Oldsmith! Can totally relate to this feeling as I've been really jazzed for five days now! Great post, Oldsmith, and everyone else too. I've enjoyed reading your comments, and have been dying to add my own, but haven't had time until now.
Here's my recap of the evening. Sorry if I seem long-winded, but I don't want to leave a single thing out.
CAT's Most Excellent Morricone Adventure
My sister and I got a later start than I'd hoped for, and arrived in Weehawken, NJ just after sunset. By the time we boarded the ferry to cross the river into Manhattan, it was dark. Looking across to the other side, I was reminded how that in my eyes, there aren't too many things that can quite match the dazzling beauty of the New York City skyline on a crystal clear night. It was picture-postcard-perfect. The top of the Empire State Building (Hi,David!) was lit in red for Valentine's Day, and I couldn't help but think how cool it would have been if the powers that be would have added a green stripe of lights further down to give the Maestro an honorary and especially warm welcome to the Big Apple. (Pretty silly, huh?)
Once docked in Manhattan, we boarded the ferry bus and proceeded to slowly make our way through the city traffic, all the time my excitement building, my heart pounding, and the "butterflies" increasing. This night was FINALLY here, and I was going to see Ennio Morricone! The bus dropped us off on the corner of 49th St. and 6th Ave., and there it was...Radio City Music Hall.
ENNIO MORRICONE TONIGHT was lit up all around the giant marquis that encircles the building. Out side the hall was a mob scene, but by now it was already 7:30 and the 'ticket holders' line was moving quickly. After going through a security scan, we entered the magnificent lobby, which was buzzing with folks who apparantly were as excited about being there as I was. This was something entirely new to me...being one in a crowd of film score fans instead of being the only one in a crowd. Nothing was being sold in the lobby except for drinks from the several little bars scattered around the perimeter. I kept scanning the crowd for a tall, white-haired man accompanied by a lady in a red dress. Guess you were already in your seats by then, Morricone, and at that point, we barely had time to get settled into our own before the lights dimmed.
The next two hours were pure magic. I was completely swept away by something that seemed almost dreamlike...music so familiar, yet even more beautiful as it was being played live. And up on the podium, the Maestro, Ennio Morricone...a man of small stature, yet so very much in control. He had very little interaction with the audience, which I understand is typical of his concerts. There were no introductions for any of the selections, and no film clips were shown. Behind the 100-piece Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra stood the 100-voice combined New York Virtuoso Singers and The Canticum Novum Singers chorus, and behind them a black backdrop accented by hundreds of lighted stars that periodically changed from yellow, to blue, to red.
The selections performed as taken directly from the program:
LA VITA E LA LEGGENDA
THE UNTOUCHABLES
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
Deborah's Theme - Poverty - Once Upon a Time in America
The Legend of '900
NUOVO CINEMA PARADISO
Pianoforte Gilda Butta
MALENA
THE MODERNITY OF MYTH IN SERGIO LEONE'S CINEMA
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY - THE ECTASY OF THE GOLD
SOCIAL CINEMA
VITTIME DI GUERRA
ABOLISSON from QUEMADA
SCATTERED SHEETS
H2 S
IL CLAN DEI SICILIANI
METTI UNA SERA A CENA
UNO CHE GRIDA AMORE
COME MADALENA
MISSION
GABRIEL'S OBOE (Oboe: Carlo Romano)
MISSION
IN EARTH AS IN HEAVEN
The orchestrations are the same as the original soundtracks composed by Ennio Morricone.
So, did I miss the absence of introductions? Not really...but I would have loved to hear him say something to the audience, even if it was in Italian. Did I miss the film clips? Not at all...I was way too intent with listening and savoring each note of that glorious music filling the concert hall. The sound, the volume level, and the accoustics were all superb.
My favorite selections of the performance had to be MALENA (I had tears running down my face it was so beautiful!), CINEMA PARADISO, ECSTASY OF GOLD (Susanna Rigacci was spectacular!), GABRIEL'S OBOE and ABOLISSON.
I looked over at my sister during ABOLISSON and her mouth was wide open...She's been converted! She said she's never heard such glorious music, and for me, this was the highlight of the night! To have my sister standing next to me, shouting "Bravo, Maestro!" is just about the best thing I could have hoped for.
The concert ended all too soon, and as we were rising to get our coats on I had the most pleasant surprise. A fellow poster from another music forum came up to find me. We talked for a few minutes, took some pictures, and then he gave me some CD's he had made for me. Now how cool it THAT? (A hugh thank you, Carlton!) Then I checked back in the theater to see if I could spot anyone down by where Morricone said he was sitting...Mostly everyone had left, and there was no red dress! The few left in the theater were going up and down the aisles looking for extra programs that people may have left behind. They only handed out one per person and had none left over, so these immediately became a rare commodity. I happened to spot one between two seats and started to go for it at the same exact time another gentleman was doing the same thing. Well, I practially dove for it to reach it first, and when it was in my grasp I looked up and asked, "Is this your program?" He said, "No, I just wanted it for a friend." I said to him, "So do I, and this program is going all the way to England." I wanted to be sure that my friend Chris, the biggest Morricone fan I know, would have a remembrance of this very special night. So TallGuy...It'll be on it's way to you soon! And I hope you'll appreciate the fact that I nearly risked life and limb for you!
Much, much gratitude to Massimo Gallotta Productions for bringing this wonderful concert, Maestro Morricone and his glorious music to the United States at last! I feel unbelievably priviledged and extremely fortunate to have been able to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event.
And BRAVO to Maestro Morricone! You took New York by storm, and the audience loved you for it. My one and only regret is that I did not get the opportunity to meet more of my fellow FSMers, and that I nearly froze my arse off waiting for the bus back to the ferry! But it was all very much worth it and I've been on cloud nine ever since. Being at this concert (which I wish had never ended) and hearing this music live is the closest I've ever been to heaven.
Now, for those of you who might have made it all the way to the end of this lengthy rundown...Thanks for reading!
Cindy 
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Many thanks for posting your review of the evening Cindy. Great stuff, and so pleased you had such a good time. Hopefully the concert will have introduced more people to the Maestro's music.
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Posted: |
Feb 23, 2007 - 4:22 PM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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One last comment. In 1970 when I walked out of INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION and said "who is this guy?" all my favorite composers had not received recognition. But as the years went by Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, etc. started to be respected as much as you could be, writing music for film. All except Morricone because he worked mainly in Italy. During these years I had to keep hearing complaints that all of the above American composers needed more awards while Morricone wasn't even nominated. And I had to give tapes to anyone who scoffed at his talent. Sometimes 3 or 4 tapes gearing it to preferences. Some would only like the big symphonic sound. Some like the lush strings. Some like aggressive action music. Some like horror scores. One didn't like instrumentals!!! So I won her over with a vocal compilation. It was easy with Ennio, he had done wild jazz and rock to chamber concertos.
This is where walking into this concert was the culmination of a 35 year old dream. Here he is coming into the big apple with HIS orchestra into a world famous 5000 seat venue and practically fills it. The audience goes wild over obscure items I fell in love with so long ago (QUIEMADA "Burn!"). He fills Radio City Hall with music that played in beat-up theatres with tinny speakers on 42nd street long ago. He becomes one of the small handfull of people who performs to the members of the United Nations IN the United Nations. An album comes out that has Bruce Springsteen, Andrea Bonticelli, Celine Dion, Metallica, Quincy Jones, and many more paying tribute joining previous recordings by Henry Mancini, John Williams, Sarah Brightman etc.
I will be up in the balcony cheering as he walks up to receive his Oscar. This award, I have heard, has garnered him more interviews from the international press than at any other time in his life. The spotlight is totally on him.
This doesn't change the universe. It does bring a tear to my eye. It probably only changes the fact, that here in America, he is no longer this guy the rest of the world seems to be crazy about. He is now ours too.
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Posted: |
Feb 25, 2007 - 2:28 PM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Wonderful post, Morricone!
Will you really be attending the Oscars? I guess that would exciting...certainly more exciting than watching from the home T.V. I generally don't get to hepped up on these award shows, including the Oscars, but you can bet your horses that I'll be watching THIS year...for one reason and one reason ONLY...to see Maestro Morricone walk up and grasp that award in his hands! I'll be thinking of you cheering in the balcony as I rise to my feet (maybe even stand on the sofa) and give him my own living room standing ovation.
Oh, and your last paragraph actually brought tears to my eyes. Beautiful statement, beautifully put. Thank you.
Thank YOU! CAT,you are the one person I wish I had met at the Morricone concert. I AM going to the Oscars thanks very much to Marshal Harvey, my very good friend. He is making this dream come true (I have been watching this show since I was a kid) and because he is Joe Dante's editor he got me on the scoring stage of Jerry Goldsmith's last film, LOONEY TUNES; BACK IN ACTION. I owe him two dreams come true. I am attending with him as he is a member of the Academy and they are given opportunities to enter a lottery for a finite number of tickets available to them. It is also a special event because there is a chance the only new composer we think may eventually be included among the greats, Alexandre Desplat, has a good chance to win tonight. Frankly, I am also rooting for Alan Arkin. But the main thing is Morricone's Oscar. Whether it is presented nicely or awkwardly this is something I've waited a long time for. Imagine if Jerry Goldsmith or John Williams had never won an Oscar and now they were voted one. Besides thinking "about time!" there would be pure elation. That's where I am right now.
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