Search - Nino Rota, Riccardo Muti, La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra :: Nino Rota: Concerto for Strings; "La Strada" Suite; Dances from "Il Gattopardo"

ROTA RARITIES

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 12/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When Nino Rota (1911-1979) decided to wean himself away from composing primarily for film, he did so gingerly--- with one foot in, one foot out, as the present assortment of esoteric compositions on this disc shows.



From Fellini's 1954 film, comes Rota's own ballet suite, La Strada, commissioned by La Scala (and staged in 1966), running some twenty-eight minutes in seven delightful and captivating tableaux. The Concerto For Strings (1964-65; rev. 1977) is similarly ingenious, tipping its hat, as it were, to baroque form (much in the same manner as Bloch does in his own Concerti Grossi). The Concerto is a fairly gentle, graceful work, exceptionally pleasing and well-designed, but seems a tease too short at only a mere fifteen or so minutes. The Dances for Visconti's film The Leopard (1963) were intended to punctuate an extended set piece revolving around a ballroom affair, dancing, intrigue; but even when extracted from the film, they are still nothing less than completely enchanting works.



Muti and the La Scala Philharmonic are in their element here; the delight is contagious, and the sound they make is beautiful, with a good, full recording to match.



[Running time: 61:59]"

The other side of Nino Rota...

vmzfla | Orlando, Fl. | 06/26/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These works are the result of Rota's mature 1960s writing style. He was at the peak of his popularity and decided to cut down on his film score output,(He was at that point producing 10 a year)devoting more time to "other" music. Inspired by Fellini's 1954 film "La Strada" he was commissioned by La Scala for a 1966 ballet by the same name. It utilizes themes from "La Strada" among others from Rota-Fellini collaborations. The melodic score was well received by the public. The themes are allowed to be fleshed out and blossom without the film action to impede them.

The String concerto(1967)is in four movements rooted by the 19th Century classical style. Soothing melodic gifts are displayed throughout, though none are borrowed from his films. The spirited finale galop requires keen virtuosity from the orchestra. 1963's Viscoti's "The Leopard" comprises of six short dances again in the late 19th Century tradition. One dance orchestrated by Rota was an unpublished waltz by Verdi. They were combined for a party scene in which all elements of the story converged. Muti and his della Scala orch. play with affection, not overdone by the SONY hidef sound. This disc is indispensible for the most devoted Rota audiophile."

Not my style Rota

someoneelse | 04/15/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some here have mentioned that Rota decided to ween himself away from film scoring or was desperate to be recognized outside of film music. Rota was composing 'serious' music probably since the late teens as a youth and his childhood oratorio The Childhood of Saint John the Baptist was performed in Italy and France: hundreds of musicians conducted by the 11 year old Rota. He was composing symphonies and chamber music throughout the '30s, and added several operas and many other works before becoming a recognized name in film music.



Rather, the La Strada ballet seems to recount a number of his cinema themes simply because they were popular at the time. It's one of the few times Rota's music sifted from film down to his other music (the ballet Amor di Poeta seems to just be a ballet routine set to pre-recorded film themes chosen by Maurice Bejart), although there are many instances of the reverse (the Il Gattopardo symphony and the Legend of the Glass Mountain themes from Sinfonia Sopra una Canzone d'amore (1972, but first sketched in 1947), Juliet of the Spirits with a theme heard in the opera I Due Timidi, and a theme that occurs in 8 1/2 with the final piece in the Concerto Soiree for Piano & Orchestra).



Although I am a Rota fan, I'm not the biggest fan of this ballet. I prefer Le Moliere Imaginaire (it's a shame there's not a full version available on CD, but the suite on BIS is terrific), which is without his film themes by the way. The fact that this is generally well-received I think shows that he has a wider appeal. This disc is conducted by Riccardo Muti, who was a student of Nino Rota's and knows his music perhaps as well as anyone. I have several versions of the La Strada ballet suite and the Il Gattopardo dances and Muti's to me are the finest. The other disc by Muti ("Music for Film"; there is a third that covers his Piano Concertos also) covers the rest of his Il Gattoprado music (the symphony), his themes for both Godfather films, the La Passerella di Otto e Mezzo from 8 1/2, and great suites from Rocco and His Brothers and The Orchestra Rehearsal; and it remains one of the best Rota CDs around!



Is it too much to wish Muti and Sony Classical would come out and record Rota's Romeo & Juliet and Taming of the Shrew scores? I'd also love to hear Rota's Symphony #1 and Sinfonia sopra una canzone d'amore under Muti's baton."