Customer Reviews

Florian

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At the time of the release of this album (1979), a lot of prog bands had either packed it in, or had shifted to a style that emphasized jazz rock, British symphonic pop, or American arena rock. Not Le Orme however - they opted for a change in direction that emphasized folk and classical styles.

This album is really interesting in that while Le Orme had simplified their style like a lot of the prog giants, they made a dramatic shift in direction by scoring their pieces solely for acoustic instruments. Specifically, Aldo Tagliapietra now played cello and classical guitar (in addition to his vocal parts), Antonio Pagliuca played acoustic piano, harpsichord, and the harmonium (a reed keyboard instrument), drummer Giuseppe dei Rossi had abandoned the drum kit and played a host of percussion instruments including vibraphone, marimba, and the glockenspiel, while guitarist Germano Serafin played violin, acoustic guitar, buzuky, and the mandolin.

The result of the dramatic change in instrumentation is a highly melodic and peaceful album of acoustic music that is rich in melody and acoustic textures. The percussion instruments really add quite a lot and I actually find it preferable to a full drum kit at times.

All in all, this is an excellent album that presents a pleasant change of direction for a prog band in the late 1970s. Highly recommended along with Uomo di pezza (1972), Felona e Serona (1973), Contrapuntti (1974), and Storia O Leggenda (1977). For those of you that like the acoustic direction, they would continue this approach on Piccola Rapsodia Dell'Ape (1980).

Actually, it's tied with "Old School Songs", also from 1979 or so, when Dave Cousins of The Strawbs re-recorded a bunch of his electric songs from the early '70's with just acoustic guitar. "Florian" was far more ambitious than that. The 4 guys -- Aldo, Toni, Michi, and Germano -- took two years off. When they came back, they had left the electric guitars/bass/drums/keyboards/voice combination behind. They returned with, and I'm quoting from the CD, Aldo: violoncello, chitarra classica, voce; Antonio: piano, clavicembalo, armonium; Giuseppe: vibrafono, marimba, glockenspiel, percussioni; Germano: violino, chitarra acustica, buzuky, mandola. Entirely acoustic! (I'll let you translate the Italian on your own; it's good for you.) Note that Toni and Michi switched to their baptismal names in keeping with their classy new instruments. In the hands of lesser talents, this move would have been pretentious and an embarrassment. But the members of Le Orme, being almost godlike in their brilliance, produced one of their greatest and most moving records. It's been a favourite of mine since I received the LP as a birthday present in 1980. Standout tracks for me are "Calipso" and "Fine di un viaggio" (i.e. End of a Journey). The other Orme albums in the first rank, and not in any particular order, are: Uomo di pezza, Contrappunti, and Felona e Sorona (not the English language version, Felona & Sorona, with lyrics by Peter Hammill of Van Der Graaf). The group also gave quite a good accounting of themselves in their 1996 release, "Il fiume", even without the help of Toni and Germano. Aldo is still in very good voice. Orme have been recording since the late '60's, and any single one of their records is superior to the entire output from another famous group from England who have been recording somewhat longer. At least I think so anyway. For the record, my other favourite Italian band is Banco (del mutuo soccorso). Other notable Italian records include Il rovescio della medaglia's Contaminazione (di alcune idee di certi preludi e fughe ...); the first two PFMs, Storia di un minuto and Per un amico; Semiramis; Il balletto di bronzo's Ys; there are in fact too many to mention. Le Orme played what I believe to be their first Canadian gig ever last summer in Quebec City. If our little company hadn't gone out of business that same week, I would have been up there like a rocket. If I know any Italian at all now, it's from years of listening to The Orme. Grazie mille, ragazzi! Oh, I nearly forgot. What does the title of this recording mean? I guess it's obvious to Italians, but not to the rest of us. It's the name of a very chic and quite expensive café on the Piazza San Marco in Venice, steps away from the famous basilica and campanile. Old copies of the LP, but not LP reissues or the CD, include a photo of the band at the café with their instruments, looking like the houseband getting ready to play.

Unlike previous efforts this recording is an all-acoustic effort. This was rather a brave endeavor given the time of it's recording (1979). The world was turning it's collective ear to punk and new wave and acoustic recordings were decidedly unpopular. It's a shame as this disc ranks among Le Orme's finest efforts. This and the follow up Piccola Rapsodia Dell'Ape, also an acoustic effort, are highly recommended...Simon

For their 1979 album "Florian" Le Orme took a complete right turn and basically put out an unplugged album. "Florian" is almost exclusively acoustic in nature emphasizing quiet melodic music that works on many different levels. Considering that this piece of work came out when most progressive rock bands were turning in a more commercial direction and punk was the name of the game, Le Orme went out on a limb and produced this very nice album. This disc sometimes seems to be looked over when discussions of the Le Orme catalogue come up, but I think it is as good as anything they have done. If you are a Le Orme fan and don't have this one I would highly recommend it.

For moments mediaeval, at times renaissance, even it resembles the best neoclassical 18th century period ... this album merges classical music wit symphonic rock in a perfectly smooth blending. I totally agree with that reviewer who emphasized this band has the enormous merit of releasing such an album during the middle of the post-punk to techo transition, just in the late 70s. This fact, in my opinion, is a high merit for the musicians who did not worry about the path rock music was taking at that moment, but kept the inspiration and spirit they had in earlier compositions, except for they put an acoustic aura on them. Lyrics in italian give this acoustic record an almost perfect atmosphere. PFM lovers, just go for it!

Well this album is absolutely underrated and often unknown as well...it is worth "4 stars and an half" at least. That is it's partially an unplugged tasteful album with a Medieval mood, which is absolutely inspiring,but also with symphonic breaks through,making this album well worth checking out!!Besides this is another hidden gem, which seems perfect to be performed in a theater (along with "Contrappunti")...even though "Contrappunti", unlike this "Florian", is closer to some albums by ELP and completely different. In fact this is a strange album in comparison to their standard; but otherwise another underrated work -"Di Terra"- by "Banco del Mutuo Soccorso" was different in comparison to their usual mood, an imprinting by Di Giacomo&C., and some critics regarded this issue as a failed attempt to innovate their style...the same destiny which coupled Banco to Le Orme.
Recommended!