Title: La
più bella serata della mia vita (The most wonderful evening of my life)
Year: 1972
Composer: Armando Trovajoli
This review
involves three short scores released on a single Beat Records CD in 1997. The
composer of all these scores is Armando Trovajoli (sometimes written Trovaioli)
who had a long career in film and stage music, and was mostly known for his
scores to Italian comedies. These films are classified as comedies as well,
though they all contain elements from other genres, hence my classification
under the WTF category.
The first
score is called La più bella serata della
mia vita and the short description says that it tells a story of a man
getting a trial for murder. The clips from the film I managed to find showed
scenes featuring psychedelic and surreal images and the music possibly accompanies
them perfectly. The opening is already a mishmash of contrasting styles
beginning with an electronic bass beat not that far from Vangelis’
compositions. Then the cheerful main theme is introduced in a series of tinkling
synthesizer notes before it turns into a classical piano melody on top of the
electronic base. The combination sounds strange but somehow it works. The
following two La castellana pieces
develop the material further. The first one begins with a love theme for a
woman’s voice singing in pseudo-German. The voice has been tampered with
synthesizers so that you can’t really tell what is being sung. The classical
melody is then reprised with the vocal effects and in the following track with
a classical chamber ensemble, an electric organ and drum set suitable for a
futuristic dinner sequence.
The things
turn darker in Verso il castello even
though it begins with a beautiful version of the love theme including a music
box. The electronic beat then returns with the cheerful main theme that is
combined to the love theme once again sung in incomprehensible vocal effects.
After those the beat changes and we get a full choir singing the doomsday hymn Dies irae over the bassline which
creates a moment of fleeting uneasiness. The changed beat continues in Fine di una sogna creating almost a feeling
of electronic chase music. However the love theme soon returns with a smooth
synthesizer and vocal line over a sweet string backing that makes way to the
classical melody juggling between the synthesizers and the full string section.
The dinner party -like version of the love theme is reprised in Pranzo il gala with beautiful
classically inspired flourishes that are though performed with an electric piano.
The reprise of La motociclista isn’t
anything like the opening track but a piano version of the love theme with some
hints to the Dies irae melody from
the dramatic choir. The classical melody gets its best version in the last
track Gavotta al castello with very
dated synthesizer sounds that end the score in a cheerful fashion.
The score
is clearly very unique with its combination of classically inspired melodies to
futuristic electronic effects. Most of the times the combinations work but at
times the sounds are a bit too dated. In addition the tracks do get quite
repetitive and the original effectiveness can get buried under the repetition
of melodies and moods. It’s an enjoyable little score nevertheless and the best
one on the CD.
Rating: ****
Title: Straziami,
ma di baci saziami (Torture me but kill me with kisses)
Year: 1968
Composer: Armando Trovajoli
The next
one Straziami, ma di baci saziami is
a romantic comedy film that has homicidal undertones. There is a catchy and
cheerful main theme called Straziami
theme which is clearly ‘Italian’ in nature with its chord progressions and the
instrumental choice of a mandolin as a primary instrument. There’s also a
long-lined love theme again featuring the mandolin called Romantic country. This melody is so stereotypically ‘Italian’ that
you can almost imagine Venetian gondolas floating by while listening to it.
Most of the score is built around these themes in different disguises. For
instance The deaf tailor combines the
main theme to comical chase music for the strings. In the following track it’s
transformed into a samba carnival cue with choral singing. The reprise of the
love theme ends with an orchestral crescendo that leads to a funeral march Tailor’s funeral before a cabaret like
variation in Looking for her. There
are also two thematically independent cues, a moonlight dance track for a solo
guitar and buzzing electric organ called Moonkiss
and a following party shake Beat trombone
that both are good additions for breaking the monotony. The score ends with two
reprises of the main theme, the first one for solo violin and accordion followed
by a lazily played tango version.
There
really is nothing that memorable or obnoxious about this little score and thus
the overall effect is rather anonymous. It’s a good filler score on the album
but I probably wouldn’t listen to it on its own and it pales in comparison to
the other two scores.
Rating: ***
Title: Dimmi
che fai tutto per me
Year: 1976
Composer: Armando Trovajoli
The last
score is a romantic heist film that includes the most comedic score of the
three. It begins with a cheesy, bubbly synthesizer melody over a Latin inspired
rhythm which is a quite charming opener to be honest, though nothing special. Grand-dad’s girl begins with mournful floating
synthesizer notes before turning into a 70s pop music inspired flute melody.
The popular music aspect develops further in the groovy basslines of the two Planning the snatch cues and The fat son that also has weird floating
glass-like elements. There’s also a piece of brilliantly entertaining, genuine
jazz piano playing in Armando’s blues
that is probably performed by the composer himself. Another highlight is Dancing for you that is a sitar melody
that is so unexpected that it’s just a blast to listen to. The album ends with
a song Gotta get rich quick that is
first introduced in track 25 with a honky-tonk like arrangement. The English
lyrics are about getting rich as the title suggests but unfortunately the song
gets quite redundant after the chorus.
The score
is the most versatile of the three and it even surprised me a couple of times.
However the lack of a main theme lowers my rating and the extreme cheesiness
might be too much to handle for some listeners. Overall the album really shows
off Trovajoli’s abilities of creating catchy melodies and different styles of
music even though these aren’t the scores I would necessarily recommend to
purchase immediately.
Rating: ***1/2
Tracklist:
“La più
bella serata della mia vita”
1. La motociclista (03:38) ****
2. La castellana (03:22) *****
3. La castellana (03:30) ***
4. Verso il
castello (04:29) *****
5. Fine di
un sogna (06:02) ****
6. Pranzo
di gala (02:41) ****
7. La
motociclista (02:32) ****
8. Gavotta
al castello (03:32) ***
”Straziami,
ma di baci saziami”
9. Straziami
theme (02:00) ***
10. Romantic
country (02:34) ***
11. The
deaf tailor (01:17) ****
12. Straziami
theme (01:24) ****
13. Romantic
country (02:10) ****
14. Tailor's
funeral (00:57) **
15. Looking
for her (01:31) **
16. Heartbreak
(03:01) ***
17. Moonkiss
(02:42) ****
18. Beat
trombone (01:30) ***
19. Straziami
violin (01:36) ***
20. Straziami
tango (03:30) ***
“Dimmi che
fai tutto per me”
21. Golden
dream (02:32) ****
22. Grand-dad's
girl (01:56) ****
23. Planning
the snatch (01:02) ***
24. Armando's
blues (02:36) ****
25. Gotta
get rich quick (instrumental) (01:32) ****
26. Planning
the snatch (01:53) ***
27. The fat
son (01:04) ****
28. Dancing
for you (01:58) ****
29. Golden
dream (00:33) ***
30. Gotta get rich quick (03:58) ***
30. Gotta get rich quick (03:58) ***
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