Digitmovies proudly presents on CD for the
very first time the complete OST by Angelo F. Lavagnino for
the Italian Gothic movie Il Castello Dei Morti Vivi directed
in 1964 by Herbert Wise (Luciano Ricci) and starring Christopher
Lee, Gaia Germani, Philippe Leroy, Jacques Stanislawski, Donald
Sutherland, Luciano Pigozzi, Renato Terra Caizzi, Antonio
De Martino, Ennio Antonelli, Mirko Valentin, Luigi Bonos.
In the early 19th century a caravan of vagabond artists reaches
the far-away castle of the count Drago (Lee) who engaged them
for a private performance.
Dark omens obscure the journey.
In fact in the gloomy castle tragic events will happen:
The nobleman does not have any interest for dramatic art and
he only wants to get new bodies which he can add to his very
singular collection of embalmed creatures.
Inoculating a serum which he himself has extracted from a
very rare plant, the count who is obesessed by the fear of
death immediately petrifies every living being he likes to
appease by contemplating a fragment of the eternity...
Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, one of the most famous film music
composers, has written a particularly gloomy OST, performed
by few instruments that create gothic atmospheres and almost
anticipate by a few years the psychedelia (Tr. 3, Tr. 5, Tr.
6, Tr. 11, Tr. 12, Tr. 14).
These sound dimensions of big tension, sometimes aggressively
dramatic, sometimes quietly magical, describe all the evil
which resides in the castle of Drago, a true demon with a
human aspect.
As main theme M° Lavagnino has written a ballad with an
ancient flavour introduced in Main Titles (Tr. 1), reprised
in Tr. 4 and in the conclusive Finale (Tr. 20).
A tech note:
The only master tapes which have survived in mono until today,
although in good condition, contain a notable hiss which in
the slower passages did sometimes cover up the music itself.
Therefore, although contrary to our usual approach, we had
to intervene by using filters of hiss reduction and we did
add some light reverb for a better listening experience of
material recorded in those days in 1964 and that gave us the
chance to assemble a CD with a total time of 46:31.
A proper rescue and preservation of an Italian Silver Age
OST and of the music art of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. |
