Cinema Retro music editor Darren Allison takes a look at four interesting Italian movie soundtracks.
Fin de Siecle Media of Sweden are proving to be one great
label and consistently releasing a wealth of superb cult movie scores. Little
known Italian composer Luciano Michelini’s excellent action-orientated score
for the low budget film L’Isola Deglil Uomini Pesce (FDS22) was directed
by Sergio Martino in 1979. While Michelini’s name may not be instantly
recognizable, his music certainly deserves to be up there alongside the top
flight of Italian film composers. Making full use of his orchestra, Michelini
successfully balances a fine blend of classic orchestration with modern
elements such as synthesizer and guitar, resulting in a fusion of varying
styles. The score is laced throughout with wonderful use of strings and some
rich symphonic passages. Romantic themes such as ‘Cosa Resta Dell'Amore’
and action orientated tracks like ‘Fuga tra gli Alberi’ are both lush
and thrilling in their delivery. While remaining typically Italian to the ear, Michelini
works through the entire spectrum of moods including solemn tribal drums and
haunting percussion as examples of the scores purest minimal form. Previously
released on vinyl by the renowned label Comenta, the score has been beautifully
restored and presented for its debut on CD including original artwork, stills
and notes by John Mansell.
Nora Orlandi may also be a composer
relatively new to some people. Born in Voghera,
Italy in 1933;
she grew up within a musical family and studied composition at the music conservatorio, also
located in Voghera. Orlandi’s splendidly atmospheric score for the giallo
picture Il Dolce Corpo di Deborah (FDS24) was directed by Romolo
Guerrieri in 1968. Guerrieri’s movie has never been considered a classic,
lending much of its story, plot and twists to the much better received Cosi
Dolce..Cosi Perversa, strangely enough also released in the same year and
both starring Carroll Baker in the lead role, uncanny to say the least. The
plot is based around murder, lust and greed, and suffers due to its lethargic pace. Regardless of this, it does
manage to recover and gather speed for the film’s final reel and actually does
end on a satisfying high note. Nevertheless, it’s a charmer as far as
sexploitation is concerned, and Guerrieri certainly takes full advantage of
capturing the shapely Ms Baker at every opportune moment, posing her either in
black lace underwear or some other delightful form of giallo 60’s costume
design. Orlandi’s music is nice mixture of Italian pop and sensual lounge and
also benefits from some wordless vocals and songs, also performed by Orlandi, a
role that has become synonymous with the legendary Edda Dell’Orso. Orlandi’s
clever use of organ, bass and seductive drum brushing insures that the score
remains firmly within a mellow groove, so don’t expect too much in the form of
dramatic score. Audio quality is excellent, presented in both simulated Stereo
and repeated for the purists in its original mono form. Once again, Fi de
Siecle Media have thoughtfully retained the films original artwork for its front
and back cover designs and benefits from some great colour stills and notes by
John Mansell located inside.
Gianfranco Parolini’s films have a healthy
cult reputation, due mainly to their bizarre comedic element. Questa volta
ti faccio Ricco! (1974) (FDS25) was an Italian / West German co production,
very typical of its day and without doubt, heavily influenced by the continuing
success of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. Romitalli’s inspired score is
certainly a mixed display of styles, but the real magic is deep within this
score’s content. ‘You and I’ aided by the vocals of Edda Dell’Orso is a
beautiful, romantically constructed theme for strings and woodwind, and is
naturally one of the many highlights.‘This time I’ll make you rich’ provides
a great fusion of both jazz and blues and kicks the soundtrack off to an
enthusiastic start. In fact, it’s quite remarkable how so many styles are
crammed into such a relatively short score. With the entire soundtrack clocking
in at just 34.04; you are left pondering just how this is possible. Romitalli
somehow, manages to pull it off, blending such diverse elements as jazz, blues,
march, caper, a waltz and even an Italian take of a Scottish theme ‘Tema di
Scotty’ albeit, with the help of some synthetically produced sounding
bagpipes! This CD has a real ‘grow on you’ appeal, which I must admit, took me
by surprise. Initially, upon my first
listen I was perhaps over sceptical, with my main concern surrounding its huge
diversity of styles. But hell, sometimes you can run the risk of over
analysing, when all you really should be doing is listening and enjoying a
composer’s work. Previously released only on vinyl by the Ariete label, the
soundtrack had become hard to find and incredibly sought after. Fi de Siecle
Media’s remastered CD premiere featuring both original artwork and extensive
notes by FSM’s John Bender are sure to prove irresistible to the collector.
A maestro not only of film composition, but
also of classical music, composer Giorgio Gaslini is perhaps best known for his
collaboration with Goblin and in particular, Dario Argento’s giallo master
class, Profondo Rosso made in 1976. Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo
della squadra mobile (1972) (FDS26) which perhaps lacks the style of Argento,
still remains a favorite among fans of Italian horror. The story centers on a
slasher whose victims are all women involved in illicit affairs. The killer,
perfectly fitting the required dress attire of classic Italian giallo (black
hat, coat and veil) stalks his victims, photographs them cheating and leaves the
photo evidence next to the body at the bloody murder scene. In fairness, it had
all been done before within the very
same genre, but if anything, it was a great way of seeing Farley Granger back
in a lead role, looking very able considering his age. Naturally, with such Euro
horrors came varying degrees of nakedness in the form of a fabulous line up of beauties including Silva Koscina, Femi
Benussi, Annabella Incontrerra, Nieves Navarro and Krista Nell. Gaslini’s
fascinating score is a far darker journey and at times can prove a little unsettling
to sit and listen to as a pure ‘music’ piece. The ever reliable grand diva Edda
Dell’Orso is again at hand to supply some haunting and welcome vocals (is there
anything she didn’t work on??). The
killer’s theme is represented by a number of incongruous and threatening cues
which all adds to the scores overwhelming sense of foreboding. But it’s
certainly not just about tonal doom, and does contain some essential lighter
moments. Gaslini uses these opportunities well and provides us with some
genuine cool lounge and easy- on- the -ear instrumentals. There’s even a nice
little Euro pop tune used from source, which all helps to lighten the mood when
necessary. Originally released on vinyl, all 15 LP tracks are featured here and
in full stereo. One major plus for this release is the truly amazing amount of
bonus material that has been rescued and utilised from the vaults at Cinevox. For
the first time, a massive 17 tracks have been added for this CD release which
consists of several fascinating alternative takes. With Fi de Siecle Media’s on
going commitment to using stunning original artwork and informative liner
notes, their releases just keep getting better and better, long may it continue
EACH
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