Critically-acclaimed as an true masterpiece
in film history, Michelangelo Antonioni's perplexing, atmospheric
and enthralling movie (starring Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne
Moreau and Monica Vitti) is the second entry in his famous
"alienation trilogy".
For both the first (L'Avventura) and the third (L'Eclipse),
Antonioni's composer-of-choice was Giovanni Fusco.
However, La Notte was scored by renown jazz and contemporary
music composer Giorgio Gaslini who, thus, was offered a first
chance to write music for a film.
Since the film was shot in Milan, Antonioni's initial idea
was to hire a native composer as he was of view that there
was a big difference between the jazz music that was being
produced in the South and in the North of Italy.
Gaslini wrote his score while the film was being shot:
he participated with his own orchestra in the party that serves
as a background for the film.
According to his recollections this ended up being the most
bizarre and exciting experience of his career.
The end result is fairly unique as well:
a catalogue of ambience jazz music that boasts an unprecented
phsycological thrust.
Initially released in a 1960 EP with only 4 cues, the original
score remained unavailable until 1996 when the Japanese label
SCL issued a limited album that quickly sold out and became
part of every fans' wish-list.
The Japanese CD features 10 original tracks plus a 20-minutes
suite comprising several alternates, outtakes as well as some
previously unreleased tracks, all of which created some confusion.
For this new release, remastered and restored by Claudio
Fuiano, we have been fortunate enough to be granted access
to the original recording sessions tapes vaulted in Cinevox
files in Rome, with a warm monaural sound.
The outcome is a musical legacy of one of the most important
movies in his most complete presentation to date. |
