Customer Reviews

The Film Music of Nino Rota

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Buyer beware...this is an "homage" to Nino Rota - a solo piano recital that falls flat on the ears. Without the magnificant orchestrations - the bells and whistles! - of the original soundtracks what do you have? Zero sense of the films and little trace of Nino Rota!

Buy "La Dolce Vita" (soundtrack) "Fellini & Rota" (soundtrack compilation)and "Amarcord" (soundtrack)

Ciao!

These pieces are the ORIGINAL piano transcriptions written and often performed by Nino Rota himself during his piano recitals. On a more intimate and personal note, Rota also had personally performed these compositions on his piano in the attic room in Piazza delle Coppelle, in Rome, for Piermarco De Santi (the originator of this compilation). A copy of these original transcriptions were later given by Rota to De Santi, who had became a personal friend in his later years. Therefore, the piano renditions on this disc is of no small value, and should be in the repertoire of any Nino Rota fan.

These piano pieces are not an homage to Rota, as mentioned; they are, in essence, Nino Rota in the purest form. And how beautiful that form is. I could imagine Rota: his fingers flowing and pounding on the keys, as the reality of these pieces take form; the melodies oozing from his soul and thought, metamorphosizing into sonic bliss through the piano. Before there was any full blown orchestration, there was Rota on the piano.

In these recordings, the pianist, Massimo Palumbo, plays these pieces brilliantly, with alot of sensitivity and emotion. The recording is also excellent, which is very necessary in order for the soft passages in some of these tracks to be heard.

"Romeo and Juliet" will always be my favourite Nino Rota composition. This rendition is the most complete edition I have heard on the piano (with or without orchestration), or on any other instrument thus far. The playing is poignant, articulate, and passionate. I am extremely delighted that I now own it.

The Godfather "Love's Theme" on this disc is paced perfectly; this slow and lyrical piano rendition has a tenderness that no full orchestra can ever match.

"The Glass Mountain" is one of Rota's favourite compositions. This piece took him to international stardom in the forties, well before his triumphant collaboration with Fellini. After hearing Palumbo recite them, I could understand why. This piece is not only melodic and lyrical, but dark and tumultuous.

This CD is a small price to pay for a peak inside the soul of Nino Rota.

We're all in Chandos's debt. Like Prokofiev Nino Rota composed at the piano. Each man could take one melodic germ and spin it into an entire soundtrack (or ballet). As true Rota fans know the orchestrated versions by heart it's especially valuable to have his transcriptions played by one of Rota's close friends - duplicating his very personal style (briefly seen in 2 documentaries accompanying "La Dolce Vita" and "81/2").

The revelation on this disc is how beautiful the "Giulietta degll Spiriti" themes sound when played slowly on a piano. Up there with the "The Godfather" and "Romeo and Juliet" - but sadly never promoted by Henry Mancini!

Regarding soundtracks anyone hoping to recreate the "feel" of a Fellini film in their living rooms is out of luck. For the last 40 years CAM have not added one extra take to the very short albums they first produced on LP. As far as I know "The White Shiek and "I Vitelloni" have never been released. Especially sad in the latter case. An idea of what we've been missing can be gauged by viewing a 7'30 min concert version on YouTube.

Similarly CAM dissapointed every Fellini buff by excluding the famous Rumba scene on its "81/2" album. Thankfully YouTube also supplies this in its entirety. In "81/2" almost every key Rota track is truncated. But, as in "La Dolce Vita" CAM feel bound to include every non-Rota pop song or Wagnerian insert. Which ruins the overall "Rota experience". Ditto "Amarcord" being cut to down to a miserly 30 minutes.

Ironically the only soundtrack CD coming close to explaining how Nino Rota's film music was created is to be found on a Fellini short called "Toby Dammit" (37 mins long). From which another record company (CDM) have produced 19 tracks lasting 34 minutes. From this one hears how his one simple boogie-woogie figure could be given almost endless enterpretations - obviously with Nino Rota in attendance.

There can be little doubt the 2 greatest soundtrack composers in the last 70 years were Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. One can but hope an entrepreneur will eventually do for Rota/Fellini/Visconti what "Rhino" did for Herrmann on its "North by Northwest" CD soundtrack release. All fifty cues - in the exact order they were used in the movie - conducted by Herrmann himself. Surely, somewhere in a vault in Cinecitta a thousand invaluable Rota cues are sitting waiting for a similar dedicated release from obscurity?

I respectfully disagree with Kyle's assessment of this CD. I bought it upon reading his review, and the Romeo and Juliet piece is nothing like other renditions (the nicest one I've ever heard is one I have on record, with Nino Rota himself conducting an orchestra in a live concert.) I think Rota's Romeo and Juliet theme is one of the most beautiful ever written (outside of Bach, etc.) but this ain't the one to listen to. Besides the record mentioned above, a CD entitled "Great Movie Love Themes" copyright 2002 Varése Sarabande, has a really really nice rendition, maybe by Rota himself.

For Rota movie fans, it's hard to know where to begin. This is a fine piano CD, but everything becomes more lyrical than lush, more Chopinesque than Carnivalesque. For Godfather, Fellini or Romeo and Juliet fans, you might buy an original soundtrack album first, then this one. There's nothing wrong with this, but you might be happier purchasing it as a supplement to the others.