Quartet: "A 40-minute LP of the soundtrack was released on RCA Victor in 1961 ... The entire project has been ... carefully restored and mastered by Chris Malone from the first-generation master tapes—originally recorded in mono ..."
I take it then that the RCA LP labeled "Living Stereo" was either fake stereo or non-stereo?
The original first-generation source tapes for La Dolce Vita are monaural. Any stereo release over the years—that either sounds like stereo or was marketed as stereo—has used artificial processing to create some sense of space—perhaps convincingly, perhaps not! We didn’t want to do that, preferring to stay true to the source tapes.
Another winner from Quartet and, based on the clips, sounding better than ever! I had the album for years on LP, then years on CD - looks like it's finally time for an upgrade.
My SAE order of the Quartet releases arrived yesterday and this is the bomb! Rota's great music in beautiful clean mono sounding like it was recorded yesterday - I'm over the moon. I hope GIULIETTA will soon follow.
This is a terrific score in a terrific new presentation. And only the Julius Fucík piece feels like circus music to me (because it has been appropriated for circus use for about a hundred years).
...only the Julius Fucík piece feels like circus music to me (because it has been appropriated for circus use for about a hundred years).
Many years ago I had a friend who knew nothing of Fellini or Rota and when he first heard some of Rota's Fellini music (a compilation) his immediate response was "What is that? It sounds like French circus music or something." I think there's something about the sound world Rota created for Fellini (apart from the genuine circus music) that brings the circus to mind. Or maybe just one circus march is all it takes to cement the connection.
It's absolutely fabulous. Well done Quartet. Earlier this afternoon I was listening to Lady Jane by Stephen Oliver, another wonderful release from Quartet, highly recommended!
Boy, this one has been in a constant rotation for me since it came.
It's a shame Nino Rota doesn't seem to get more love around here. He was a great talent with his own musical voice.
Sight and Sound magazine, a few years ago, voted Nino Rota the greatest film score composer of all time. I think Bernard Herrmann was number two but I could be mistaken. Yes, Rota is one of the all-time greats.
