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As a composer Morricone is a genius. As a music critic he's one of us.
Yes, yes, yes, Mancini/Edwards! How did I miss that?
As far as Rota/Fellini collaborations there were something like 17 films, give or take 1.
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Posted: |
Jan 25, 2020 - 9:09 AM
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By: |
DS
(Member)
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Rota/Fellini may have worked together on many projects, but as much as I love Rota, you also have to see that there's a lot of copy&paste going on.
I personally prefer Rota's work that was NOT for Fellini. Morricone said about Rota (whom he greatly admired) that it was a pity Fellini forced him into doing circus music. Only with Casanova Rota did a different approach and the result was very good.
I would say the overwhelming majority of the cues in most Fellini-Rota scores are not "circus music." Stylistically, these scores strike me as usually being a mix of jazz, 1920s-50s popular music, romantic Hollywood scoring, classical music, and yes, circus music. Usually these elements are united by a long-lined romantic melody that's versatile enough to be arranged for these disparate musical styles. Dismissing all of it as "circus music" strikes me as unfairly reductive.
You're also forgetting "Fellini Satyricon," which is probably the most experimental score Rota ever did and it has zero "circus" elements.
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I just watched I Vitelloni and was struck by that beautiful score. I see it’s only had a 2-3 minute excerpt released of the main theme. Could one of the labels tackle that, or is it just expanded releases of existing soundtracks that are open?
Only a few months ago we had talked about I VITELLONI and that the original tapes are long gone. You have to consider that the film and score are from 1953 - from that time only very few things have survived in Italy. So no label can release the original recording anymore:
https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=136042&forumID=1&archive=0
The only possibility to get the complete VITELLONI score would be a new recording, but apparently nobody wants to do that which is a pity.
To my mind a new recording of I Vitelloni would be a great project for Quartet Records!
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Posted: |
Jan 25, 2020 - 11:03 AM
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By: |
couvee
(Member)
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That’s right, I almost forgot about Satyricon. Let me tell you that I regard Rota as a musical God and played his music all my life. It’s just that (I, personally) don’t play his music for Fellini as often as his other works (Casanova the exception) for the reason that it is this hotchpotch of jazz, 1920s-50s pop, romantic Hollywood, classical and sometimes circus music (I Clowns). In the mix are a few very catchy tunes that are Rota originals and that I love, but as a listening experience I prefer Romeo and Juliet, Alle origini della mafia, Godfather and Visconti scores for instance. So I’m with Ennio on this. But I still think the music is perfect for the Fellini films and it works very well.
Ennio Morricone In His Own Words (page 128-129 on Rota);
“He invented extraordinary melodies. But his score for Orchestra Rehearsal (Prova d’orchestra, dir Federico Fellini, 1978) didn’t particularly thrill me, like most of his other scores for Fellini. This was not due to his music, but to Fellini, who pushed him into writing circus-like music. He used to give him two main musical references, the “Entry of the Gladiators” and “Titine”. When Nino tried to break out from those rules and started to improvise new things, Fellini, who was a very clever man, understood what he was up to and started recording him during his improvisations. He exerted a control over him.
In spite of all this, I discovered Nino Rota’s greatness gradually in time, and I appreciated his collaborations with Visconti in Rocco and His Brothers (Rocco e i suoi fratelli, 1960) and The Leopard (Il Gattopardo, 1963). Of all his works with Fellini, perhaps the one that most struck me was his score for Fellini’s Casanova (1976), where I can recognize his greater degree of freedom.
(Who knows, maybe Fellini was distracted and forgot to insist on circus music…)”
Perhaps I should mention once again that an excellent CD came out last year “Nino Rota works for harp” by Anneleen Lenaerts on Warner classics. It’s got some beautiful music on it including several transcribed Suites from films (Godfather, Death on the Nile, Dolce Vita, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew). I love the instrument anyway, but this is a CD that I play very often because it’s so beautiful. In the booklet Lenaerts has this to say about Rota (I couldn’t improve on that);
“The strength of Rota’s musical language lies in a simplicity that often contains an inherent contradiction hidden within it. He could deftly infuse a light, frivolous melody with gravitas, inject melancholy into any celebration, or breathe new life into an old-fashioned melody at a stroke - all of this with an overwhelmingly honest spontaneity. Tugging at the listener’s heartstrings, he conjures a story with no need for images.
This is also how Nino Rota wished to be remembered: through pure feeling, with a touch of nostalgia, optimism and a healthy dose of humour. What could be better than sweeping an audience away on a tide of sincere emotion and giving them a moment of pure joy? For me, that is his most important musical message - one I would love to share through this recording.”
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To my mind a new recording of I Vitelloni would be a great project for Quartet Records!
I wonder how hard this would be? If the tapes have been destroyed, does that go for the scores too? A reconstruction would presumable add to the cost / viability of the project. Even a suite of 20 minutes from this score would be lovely!
I suppose that the original manuscripts exist - at least the piano score with two staves of I VITELLONI exists for sure as one page of it was reproduced in Maurizio Baroni´s large book "Platea in piedi 1945-1958".
The Rota estate is housed at the Fondazione Cini in Venice:
https://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/siusa/pagina.pl?TipoPag=comparc&Chiave=360714
The Rota manuscripts should all be there. I myself have asked there a few years ago whether they also have any tapes of the unreleased Rota scores from the 1950s, but they replied with "no".
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I've just played my old L.P. of War and Peace for the fist time in years. The music is sublime but the recording truly awful.
It needs a new recording, it needs the Tadlow treatment. Sadly I doubt if it will ever happen. Considering the health of James Fitzpatrick at the moment I think that King of Kings will be the last one, for some time
It might still happen. With Quartet entering the re-recording business, I could see them possibly doing a re-recording of War and Peace if Intrada doesn't decide to do it themselves.
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