A journey into the film music of the Italian master
On December 29th, at the Teatro Sociale in Rovigo, there will be a show dedicated to one of the greatest composers of soundtracks of all time: Ennio Morricone. The concert, titled “Tribute to Morricone - Oscar Music”, will offer a selection of the most famous film music written by the Roman master, who passed away last July at the age of 91.
Ennio Morricone was a genius of music, able to range between different genres and styles, and to create unforgettable melodies that accompanied the images of masterpieces of Italian and international cinema. His career, which began in the 1950s as an arranger and orchestrator, counts over 400 soundtracks for cinema and television, as well as numerous pieces of classical and contemporary music.
Morricone received numerous awards for his art, including two Oscars (an honorary one in 2007 and one for the best soundtrack in 2016 for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight), three Grammy Awards, three Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, ten David di Donatello, eleven Silver Ribbons, two European Film Awards, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and a Polar Music Prize.
The concert in Rovigo will be an opportunity to retrace the most significant stages of his musical production, starting from the genre that made him famous all over the world: the Italian-style western. The music written for Sergio Leone’s films, such as A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America, have become true sound icons, thanks to the use of unusual instruments (such as the harmonica, the whistle, the mandolin, the banjo, the sitar), vocal effects (such as choirs, grunts, moans) and musical themes that characterize the characters and situations.
But Morricone did not limit himself to the western, he also composed music for historical, dramatic, comedic, horror, crime, erotic, authorial films. Among his most important collaborations, we remember those with directors such as Gillo Pontecorvo (The Battle of Algiers), Bernardo Bertolucci (1900, The Last Emperor), Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Hawks and the Sparrows, The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, Arabian Nights), Dario Argento (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o’ Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet), Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, Malèna, The Legend of 1900, Baarìa), Roland Joffé (The Mission, The Scarlet Letter), Brian De Palma (The Untouchables, Mission to Mars), Oliver Stone (U Turn), and many others.
The concert will be performed by the Ensemble Le Muse, a group of female musicians who have already taken the show “Tribute to Morricone” around the world, receiving the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic. At the piano and direction there will be the maestro Andrea Albertini, creator and arranger of the music. The solo voice will be that of Angelica Depaoli, who will interpret the most famous songs written by Morricone, such as Se telefonando, Here’s to you, Deborah’s theme.
A special guest will be Susanna Rigacci, the soprano who collaborated with Morricone for many years, and who lent her voice in films such as The Mission, The Legend of 1900, The Hateful Eight. The concert will be an exciting tribute to Morricone, a master who was able to express with his music the emotions, passions, stories, dreams of generations of spectators and cinephiles.
