Riz Ortolani is not only one of the few remaining Maestro's
of the silver age of film music in Italy, but he is acknowledged,
much as with Ennio Morricone, as having procured solid international
success.
The composer is most famous for his multi-million dollar hit
single More, from the exploitation documentary Mondo Cane.
The Grammy winning song has been recorded by just about every
major vocalist of the 1960s and rivals John Barry's Born Free
as an immortal standard drafted from a film score.
Ortolani's 1973 assignment Il Consigliori was made in direct
response to the astounding success of Coppola's The Godfather.
The film, which was directed by Alberto De Martino, stars
Martin Balsam and Tomas Milian.
Ortolani fortunately chose not to emulate Nino Rota's genius
(except for one finely crafted theme) but instead relied on
his own compositional voice.
Because of this Il Consigliori is a deftly balanced mix of
ostensibly disparate elements, and will satisfy all collectors
who crave scores to be an exciting synthesis of styles and
approach.
Ortolani audaciously experiments with references to pop-cultural
instrumental hits such as Deodato's redo of Also Sprach Zarathustra
(of 2001 fame), and goes so far as to provide hints of (then)
future soundtrack landmarks inclusive of Schifrin's Magnum
Force.
As with most of this artist's oeuvre there are also to be
found heart-wrenchingly serene love themes and utterly bombastic
brass explosions to represent violence, action and rage.
The score has previously only been released as nine tracks
on vinyl, while this latest Chris' Soundtrack Corner production
generously gives fourteen restored cuts plus three bonus cues
not used in the film.
Liner notes are by Italian film score authority John Bender. |