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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeNov 27th 2014 edited
    When I search for a composer's name here in MainTitles' forum, sometimes no results are found.
    If there exists a MT thread on a composer, then sometimes there's not much activity within and the member who created that thread might state something in the first post such as "I can't believe PQ didn't have a thread already".

    Regarding Piero Piccioni, it's understandable that there wasn't a thread on him and his music.
    Vintage Italian film music and Italian soundtrack specialty labels are apparently very much a niche interest ... so much so that entire areas of soundtrack collecting are oblivious, unintentionally or otherwise, of their contents.

    I think the time is ripe to create threads on Italian composers.

    I'm commencing with Piero Piccioni, largely because Piccioni is my overall favorite Italian composer.
    Additionally, there is recent (very recent) indication at Screen Archives Entertainment's website that a reissue of a Piccioni soundtrack via Quartet is selling out rapidly enough to place THE LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD into the Top 10 best sellers.
    Unsure if this is the first ever time that a Piero Piccioni soundtrack enters a Top 10 chart, I'm nevertheless gratified that this soundtrack (which I've cited here @ MT in Timmer's thread on favorite top 50 albums) is accumulating the attention I always thought it deserves.

    THE LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (IL FARO IN CAPO AL MONDO) is my 2nd favorite Piccioni score and my favorite album of Piccioni music ... so I'll start this Piero thread stitchin' with my personal rankings of Piccioni soundtracks:

    Four Cheese Entrées

    (the top dozen with a rank of 8 out of 8)

    1. Tomba Aperta … Una Bara Vuota, Una
    2. Faro In Capo Al Mondo, Il (The Light At The Edge Of The World)
    3. Straniero, Lo http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61WYpCsfWgL.jpg
    4. Demonio, Il http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … o_101b.jpg
    5. Monaco, Il http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5179VcGMHYL.jpg
    6. Salvatore Giuliano http://www.criterion.com/films/687-salvatore-giuliano
    7. Mani Sulla Citta, Le http://www.criterion.com/films/799-hands-over-the-city
    8. Bacio, Il
    9. Senilita' http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … p_101b.jpg
    10. Bell'Antonio, Il http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/8 … L1240_.jpg
    11. ...Dirai: Ho Ucciso Per Legittima Difesa http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MNfwfe-qL.jpg
    12. Uomini Contro

    (next batch with a rank of 7 out of 8)

    13. Senza Via D'Uscita
    14. Spina Dorsale Del Diavolo, La (aka The Deserter or The Devil's Backbone) http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/8 … L1367_.jpg
    15. Scacco Alla Regina http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … l_101b.jpg
    16. Volpe Dalla Coda Di Velluto, La http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IR3kzOGnL.jpg
    17. Niente Rose Per OSS 117
    18. Storia Di Una Monaca Di Clausura
    19. Streghe, Le (episode 1 by Visconti) (The Witches)
    20. Quel Caldo Maledetto Giorno Di Fuoco
    21. Decima Vittima, La (The 10th Victim) http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … i_101b.jpg
    22. Sette Cadaveri Per Scotland Yard http://www.quartetrecords.com/media/cat … d_yard.jpg
    23. Minnesota Clay http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/8 … L1212_.jpg


    Three Glasses of Etna Rosso San Lorenzo (wine, that is)

    (next dozen ranked 6 out of 8)

    24. Adua E Le Compagne http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fn3CAE3BL.jpg
    25. Fatevi Vivi La Polizia Non Interverra http://c3.cduniverse.ws/resized/630x630 … 241511.jpg
    26. Amore Mio Aiutami http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dkf2rvM%2BL.jpg
    27. Anna Karenina
    28. Io Non Perdono … Uccido
    29. Genti E Paesi
    30. Romolo E Remo (Duel Of The Titans) http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … e_101b.jpg
    31. Imprevisto, L' http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Z-AwfFy7L.jpg
    32. Alba Dell'Uomo, L'
    33. Peccato Mortale
    34. Monache Di Sant'Arcangelo, Le
    35. Due Maschi Per Alexa

    (ranks of 5 out of 8)

    36. Benvenuto Cellini (Le Evasioni Celebri)
    37. Mafioso http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … t_101b.jpg
    38. … Se Incontri Sartana, Prega Per La Tua Morte http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hXLzdHOPL.jpg
    39. C'era Una Volta (More Than A Miracle) http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/images/ … 125568.jpg
    40. Caso Mattei, Il
    41. Malato Immaginario, Il http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/7 … L1192_.jpg
    42. Fratelli Karamazov, I http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … i_101b.jpg
    43. Colt In Mano Al Diavolo, Una
    44. Commare Secca, La (The Grim Reaper) http://www.criterion.com/films/940-la-commare-secca
    45. In Viaggio Con Papa' http://www.dustygroove.com/images/produ … o_101b.jpg
    46. Mondo Di Notte Numero 2, Il
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      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeNov 27th 2014 edited
    I have two Piccioni soundtracks in my collection, and I enjoy both of them very much:

    TEMPTATION/LA FIGLIA DEL CAPITANO (in digital file format) and BORA! BORA! (on CD) which he did with Les Baxter.

    That's about it, I'm afraid. My knowledge of Italian soundtracks and composers (beyond the obvious ones) is limited. I know it's a very popular niche thing within the soundtrack community, but somehow I never caught on to all of that.
    I am extremely serious.
    • CommentAuthorJoep
    • CommentTimeNov 27th 2014
    Piccioni is a wonderful composer. Camille 2000 and Travolti da un Insolito Destino Nell'Azzurro Mare D'Agosto are his absolute best works. His legacy includes large numbers of catchy scores which cannot be called anything else but cool. He and Piero Umiliani are by far the greatest talents from Cinecittà.

    http://www.maintitles.net/reviews/camille-2000/
  1. I don't know much about the music of Piccioni. I only had the La Figlia del Capitano/Temptation double-header album and Il Faro In Capo Al Mondo before this topic was started.

    I had a listen to as many clips as I could from your "Top 20" titles but the only one that I picked up out of those was Uomini Contro, plus Travolti da Un Insolito Destino Nell'Azzurro Mare d'Agosto from Joep's two.

    Thanks for those.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeNov 29th 2014
    Thor wrote
    I have two Piccioni soundtracks in my collection, and I enjoy both of them very much:

    TEMPTATION/LA FIGLIA DEL CAPITANO (in digital file format) and BORA! BORA! (on CD) which he did with Les Baxter.


    Interestingly, I passed on Quartet's 2-CD BORA! BORA! because I've never cared for any of those AIP/Les Baxter re-scores for the American market.

    The Kronos disc I may yet still get in the future, but that's been a low priority on my wish list.

    Piero Piccioni had an amazing versatility for someone who had been primarily considered as a jazz band man.
    Since Piero's soundtracks have a wide range of styles, some styles will appeal more than others based upon individual tastes.

    Realizing, Thor, that the topic of 'religious' sound is dear to you, I think you might be interested in checking out sound samples from my #s 18 and 34. These are both on a single Digitmovies CD. They are soundtracks for what I call 'nunsploitation' flicks which for whatever reason became a small sub genre between 1972 and '76.
    Unusure if they will appeal to you because Piccioni utilizes a pre-Classical Era modal approach and updates some of the cues with early '70s beats. This is not at all like Vaughan Williams pastoralism but very akin to ecclesiastical chant and Renaissance music.
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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeNov 29th 2014
    Joep wrote
    Piccioni is a wonderful composer. Camille 2000 and Travolti da un Insolito Destino Nell'Azzurro Mare D'Agosto are his absolute best works. His legacy includes large numbers of catchy scores which cannot be called anything else but cool. He and Piero Umiliani are by far the greatest talents from Cinecittà.


    Yes, Piccioni was a wonderful talent but I like a lot of Italian composers so I wouldn't limit greatness to just the 2 Pieros.
    In 2014, I've been on an Armando Trovajoli 'kick' during the first half of the year and I'm presently on a Carlo Savina kick. Thanks to the Italian soundtrack labels, film music which has been in archives/vaults for 50+ years is getting released and some of this music is quite a revelation!
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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeNov 29th 2014
    FalkirkBairn wrote
    Thanks for those.


    You're welcome, FB.

    It seems our tastes in music diverge quite a bit. But this is OK because Piccioni soundtracks have plenty of stylistic range and you might like some of Piero's albums that are not on my list.

    The most important thing, IMO, is to explore. Not only Piccioni but other Italian composers, too.
    By initiating a thread such as this, I hope to stimulate interest in a territory which seems to have gone yet unmined here @ MainTitles.

    Perhaps one might even watch a film or two that Piccioni had scored. smile
    • CommentAuthorJoep
    • CommentTimeNov 30th 2014
    I forget to mention that these two Italian composers have written the highest percentage of really good 'cool' scores. In an ungoing exploration of various Italian composers I still can't find others to match that. For that reason, and only in that particular corner, the most talented.

    Agreed on his versatility. Un Tentativo Sentimentale, certainly not amongst his best works, still made me want to explore his other scores. Always a delight to browse through the catalogues of Italian labels.
    • CommentAuthorLanark
    • CommentTimeJan 27th 2015 edited
    I love Piccioni's work. The Mafioso compilation which came out in August 2014 via El and Cherry Red is a great low price introduction to Piccioni's work for any newcomers.
    I've been trying to track down a version of the Mancini theme song to "Days Of Wine And Roses" which Piero Piccioni recorded with Lydia MacDonald in 1962 or 1963 "I Giorni Del Vino e Delle Rose" and was released in Italy on La Voce del Padrone MQ 1817.

    And you should add "Fumo Di Londra" to that list of Piccioni essentials. "Mr Dante Fontana" anyone?
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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeJan 31st 2015 edited
    Thanks, Lanark, for your appreciation of Piccioni's film music.

    Love that El CD on MAFIOSO and other Piccioni selections from '62, but I'm no completist for those soundtracks from Alberto Sordi movies.
    SMOKE OVER LONDON may indeed be considered an essential Piccioni title but I don't even own that album.
    Keep in mind the list above contains my personal favorites and is not necessarily representative of Piccioni's career output.

    I didn't expect much feedback from amongst MT membership on Italian soundtracks, so I'm pleasantly surprised Lanark apparently created a MT account to comment on this thread.

    Welcome aboard, Lanark, however brief your stay is/was...
    • CommentAuthorLanark
    • CommentTimeNov 5th 2015
    I still pop by! I can recommend the following Piccioni titles too.

    I Magliari

    Colpe Revente

    I Giovanni Tigri

    One you have already listed highly is Scacco Alla Regina. I cannot rate this Piccioni CD highly enough. It is simply wonderful. Matchless. Peerless. The themes "Capriccio" and "Scacco Alla Regina" have a few extra takes on the Cinevox CD issue and they are worth the price of the disc alone.
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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeNov 7th 2015
    Hi, Lanark.

    Yeah, it seems to me that Scacco Alla Regina was highly regarded soon after its release on LP.
    Several tracks from that album were tracked into Piccioni's 1976 Quelle Strane Occasioni, so, in a period of less than 10 years, Scacco Alla Regina was already an iconic specimen of the "lounge" style scores.

    Never owned 2 of the titles you mention above, but Beat Records' I Magliari is in my collection.
    As with other scores from 1959 like Trovajoli's Poveri Milionari and Savina's Il Moralista, I Magliari is one of the earliest examples of how the Italian movie music scene had transitioned away from the Hollywood-type 'Golden Age' orchestral romanticism towards jazzy music played prominently by big bands. We are grateful, of course, to the Italian labels for making such music available on albums, but I nevertheless rank I Magliari within the lowest 25% of my 92+ Piccioni collection because it's not a personal favorite of mine.

    Regarding the multiple editions out there of I Giovanni Tigri, which version is most satisfying?
    I've always avoided placing I Giovani Tigri in a shopping cart since there seems to be 3 (maybe even more?) different discs and none of their sound samples intrigued me enough.
    • CommentAuthorJoep
    • CommentTimeNov 9th 2015
    I have the Dagored release of I Giovanni Tigri. I think it's a bit of a routine score.

    I haven't heard the release by Verita and Avanz. I'm not so sure if the Verita release is that good; all those short cues better not have pauses between them.
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      CommentAuthorCobweb
    • CommentTimeNov 11th 2015
    Thanks for your input, Joep.

    I, too, got the impression that I Giovanni Tigri is not essential Piccioni. Interesting how us followers of an individual composer can have quite different responses/opinions regarding which works/discs are outstanding.
    Still, differing reviews are advantages for us to receive a more well-rounded perspective.

    Also, it's gratifying that there are a few MT members who know about (former) labels like Avanz or Verita Note. smile