21 June 2018 (gig)
26 June 2018
A cool breeze, surprisingly, after a hot summer’s day, is blowing through Parma’s Parco Cittadella so it’s a very pleasant feeling knowing that there will be no distractions like heat or mosquitos for this enchanting evening with the maestro Ennio Morricone and orchestra. This is not Hyde Park so it’s a smaller, more orderly setting and seating arrangement that’s laid out around the main stage for tonight’s performance.
EM seems to be on a never ending tour and indeed is more popular than ever mainly thanks to past and present associations with movie directors and top rock bands that are his greatest fans and eagerly seeking the Morricone approval for their own art. Still his talent as an able conductor is on trial tonight, the setlist comprising many of those wonderful scores that we all know and love. A soundtrack to our lives in many ways.
What virtues Ennio Morricone has as an artist? As a maker of melody he has no equal, the ability to simplify orchestral music so endearing him to the masses thanks to his deftness of touch, shadows and light; soothing and reassuring, yet with bursts of wonder too; able to make wood, brass and string instruments coexist comfortably in addition toa notable skill in the use of a choir.
The concert has a thirty minute delay thanks to latecomers, but finally around 21.45 the musicians start to drift on to the stage, all in black attire: When the lead violinist, the concert master, has finished tuning up everyone, they and us eagerly await the maestro’s entrance to the stage. A rapturous applause salutes him but after a couple of bows he quickly takes to his seat, given his 89 years, picks up his baton and away we go.
As soon as this happens, he seems to shrug off his frail stance and is alert in his facial features, a certain nimbleness in his movements.
The evening ends after midnight and it’s been an emotional collective experience. Only ‘Deborah’s Theme’ remains off this setlist but such are my feelings for this piece of music that I am slighted for an instance, but my aching heart cannot deny the beauty of the evening as the ‘Parmigiani’ and I fade into the night.
Setlist
La Leggenda del pianista sull'Oceano
FOGLI SPARSI
Bugsy
. H2S
Uno Che Grida Amore
. Baarìa
Tarantella
NOSTROMO
Nostromo
. Tropical Variation
. Silver of the Mine
LA MODERNITA' DEL MITO NEL CINEMA DI SERGIO LEONE
. L'uomo dell'armonica
. Il forte
. Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo
L'estasi dell'oro
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
L'ultima diligenza di Red Rock
CINEMA DELL'IMPEGNO
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
. La luz prodigiosa
La battaglia di Algeri
La ballata di Sacco e Vanzetti
Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto
Sostiene Pereira
La classe operaia va in paradiso
. Vittime di guerra
Abolição
. MISSION
Gabriel's Oboe
Falls
Come in cielo così in terra
Encore:
Baarìa
Encore 2:
L'estasi dell'oro
Encore 3:
La luz prodigiosa
