Saimel Records proudly presents on this CD the complete original score by Carlo Savina for the rare 1964 melodrama AMORE MIO which was directed by Raffaello Matarazzo and starred Eleonora Brown, Paul Guers and Antonella Lualdi.
During the 1950s Matarazzo had been one of Italy´s most successful directors and his series of melodramas with the popular couple Amedeo Nazzari and Yvonne Sanson had constituted some of the highest box-office grosses of post-war Italy. AMORE MIO should become his last film before his untimely death in 1966 and candidly deals with themes like divorce and bigamy and the disillusionment each of the three main characters has to cope with. Matarazzo with his camera concentrates above all on the charming face of the then only 16-year-old Eleonora Brown who had been a child actor in Vittorio De Sica´s Oscar-awarded 1960 war drama LA CIOCIARA. She plays the young girl Nora who is totally disappointed in life as she has been neglected by her single mother who secretly works as a prostitute and as she never had a father has always been treated as a bastard. Severe conflicts arise when the boat daler Mario (Paul Guers) hires Nora as his secretary, slowly falls in love with her and even leaves his wife Elsa (Antonella Lualdi) as their marriage in the meantime has disintegrated.
Carlo Savina was one of the busiest and most prolific Italian musicians during the 1960s and 1970s. The symphonic score he composed for AMORE MIO may be rather obscure for many soundtrack collectors nowadays, but it is also one of his most beautiful and inspired. It is surging with passion and filled with lush romanticism. Savina immediately introduces his yearning and heartfelt main theme during the Main Title almost in the vein of a classical piano concerto as the solo piano is the main protagonist which is framed by wonderful lush strings. The tone is tragic and intense and the music so touchingly bespeaks the futility of Mario and Nora´s love affair. This theme often crops up in the score during the love scenes and always remains attractive due to its melodic power and to Savina´s ability to come up with all kinds of lovely variations according to the changing moods of the picture.
There are still other themes: Mario´s little daughter Mirella is accompanied by an often reprised dreamy motive mostly stated by organ and vibraphone whereas the scenes with her mother Elsa are dominated by a gentle and wistful theme for strings. More jazzy sounds mostly with prominent use of the saxophone are reserved for Nora´s mother and create a sultry atmosphere to musically depict her somewhat shady way of life.
For AMORE MIO Carlo Savina has written a haunting romantic film music masterpiece which fascinates from beginning to end due to its melodic fervour and its lyrical beauty and is absolutely worthy of a rediscovery on this CD. Our disc presenst the complete score in mono from the original master tapes (Tracks 1-19) preserved in the Sugar music archives as well as the album program (Tracks 20-36) of the rare CAM LP which had been issued in 1964.
The CD will be available on October 31st at Rosebud in Spain and can now be pre-ordered there.
Your are right that I am going to like this 1964 melodrama from the C.A.M. vaults.
Never saw the film nor heard the album, but I plan to buy Amore Mio. When I assess my Savina collection thus far, my 1st & 2nd favorites are both from 1964. First La cripta e l'incubo then La morte vestita di dollari reinforces my view that '64 was a superb timeframe for Savina's film scoring.
Appears that Amore Mio was around the same time as Sette a Tebe
Board members who have complained about the lack of (US) Golden Age scores should have a look.
AMORE MIO is indeed almost a Golden Age score - symphonic, very romantic and richly melodic - and I also think that fans for example of Newman, Skinner or Young melodrama scores of the 50s might probably enjoy it if they gave it a listen. However, as you may know yourself it is extremely difficult to get people interested in something obscure like this at all. Almost nobody on this board has ever heard about the film or score at all, in addition it is an Italian score from a not really popular genre. Due to all these facts most (US) collectors will therefore rather ignore this lovely music.
In this contexct it may be interesting to note that Savina also quotes a famous motif from Rózsa´s SPELLBOUND two or three times in the AMORE MIO score which reminds one that he had collaborated with him just a few years before and knew his music quite well.
Amore Mio CD will be available next week. I'm listening again at the moment this exceptional score by Carlo Savina and, as Stefan says, it is really beautiful music. It should serve to make fans look to Carlo Savina, a great composer and a great conductor.
Well, after a few months that the CD, still on its cellophane wrap, waited patiently on its shelf alongside its "brothers" - other Savina albums like SIMON BOLIVAR, L'UOMO CHE RIDE etc. - its turn came at last (there's a ton of stuff, not only soundtracks of course, that wait stacked in various spots in my appartment and which in all probability I will never find the time to listen to...) and what a beauty it is! From the powerful main theme to the jazzy saxophone-led cues to the Herrmannesque "Fuga Drammatica" this is a score to cherish. What a pity that Savina didn't work in high profile films or at least films that enjoy some cult following so as people would know him as the fine composer he was and not just as "that guy who conducted Nino Rota's music"... I urge all lovers of old-fashioned romantic symphonic scoring to buy AMORE MIO. Now! Thank you, Stefan!...
Here's my selection of best Savina scores in different genres.
Orchestral/Romantic La Cieca di Sorrento [1963] Amore Mio [1964] L'Uomo Che Ride [1966] Comin' at Ya! [1981] L'Orchestra Rossa [1989]
Orchestral/Action Ursus nella Terra di Fuoco [1963] Sette a Tebe [1964] La Cripta e L'Incubo [1964] E Dio Disse a Caino [1970]
Orchestral Lounge Nel Buio del Terrore [1971] Ragazza Tutta Nuda Assassinata nel Parco [1972] Trinità e Sartana Figli di... [1972] Ming, Ragazzi! [1973] L'Assassino Ha Riservato Nove Poltrone [1974] Là Dove Non Batte Il Sole [1975] Ultime Grida dalla Savana [1975]
Funk/Lounge Suggestionata [1978] Grand Tour [1978, Library]
Beat Rock Ombre Roventi [1970]
Best of unreleased Pochi Dollari per Django [1966] Ingrid Sulla Strada [1973] La Profanazione [1974] Ordine Firmato in Bianco [1974]
Another Savina in a romantic Golden Age idiom is the 1963 LA CIECA DI SORRENTO in the KronGold Collection (if you didn't already know/have it).
However, in my opinion LA CIECA DI SORRENTO lacks such a memorable and passionate romantic main theme as the one which dominates AMORE MIO throughout and is rather more of an adventure score with some romantic and also some action as well as suspense elements.. Interestingly, the music which can be heard in track 9 on the LA CIECA DI SORRENTO CD was also tracked into the AMORE MIO film itself in one sequence - LA CIECA DI SORRENTO was made just one year before AMORE MIO - so that there is even some more music in the film than on the master tapes which we had and which of course only contained the music specificially recorded for the movie in 1964. By the way, Savina himself must have been very fond of his AMORE MIO main theme as he re-used it almost 10 years later for the crime movie INGRD SULLA STRADA where it again appears as main theme of the score. He just changed the instrumentation a bit to give the theme more of a typical 70s lounge touch, but actually it is the same one:
Someone on Youtube is apparently looking for three years now in vain for the Main Title music from Savina´s AMORE MIO. This is quite funny and sheer unbelievable:
Can anyone who is either a member on Youtube or on Facebook contact him and finally tell him where this music really comes from? I am not a Facebook member, but I also see that this man from Egypt has again asked for this same music just a few days ago in the public Retro Euro Cult Film Score Society Facebook group where it seems that nobody can help him: https://www.facebook.com/groups/retroeurocultfilmscore/?ref=group_header
