Quartet Records and Gruppo Sugar proudly present a 2-CD set with the premiere release of the complete score composed by Nino Rota (La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, The Leopard, The Godfather) for Federico Fellini’s classic 8½. Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Anouk Aimée, Sandra Milo and Barbara Steele, the film is about a harried movie director who retreats into his memories and fantasies. Being one of the most personal and introspective films of Fellini, the movie was a big international success, winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1963 and appearing on many film critics’ lists of the best movies ever made.
Nino Rota’s original score is one of his most popular, and the cue “La Passarella d’addio” was immediately identified as the quintessence of his collaboration with Fellini, due to its blend of nostalgia and circus music. But the score is much more than this theme. Most of the music has a carnivalesque, vigorous quality, from source music based on swing, galop, waltzes and dance music, to dramatic, nostalgic and even mysterious sounds.
A 40-minute LP of 8½ was released on CAM in 1963 and reissued many times on CD by the same company. For this premiere complete edition, we have included the 66-minute score on CD 1. On the second disc we have included more than 20 minutes of previously unreleased music with alternates and music that was not used in the final print of the movie, as well as the remastered original album. The entire project, supervised by Claudio Fuiano, has been carefully restored and mastered by Chris Malone from first-generation master tapes—originally recorded in mono—courtesy of Gruppo Sugar. The original album has also been restored from the original session tapes.
DISC ONE. The Complete Film Score
01. Introduzione (1:42) 02. Tunnel (0:47) 03. Cimitero (Film version) (3:07) 04. Cigolettes da la Banda delle Libellule (2:35) 05. Carlotta’s Galop (2:50) 06. E Poi (Valzer) (1:59) 07. L’illusionista (3:04) 08. Ricordo di infanzia (Part 1) (3:34) 09. Otto e mezzo (Solo piano 1) (3:33) 10. Nel’ufficio di produzione di Otto e mezzo (2:13) 11. Otto e mezzo (Swing) (1:05) 12. Ricordo di infanzia (Part 2) (1:42) 13. Otto e mezzo (Restaurant) (0:47) 14. Otto e mezzo (Sauna) (3:19) 15. Otto e mezzo (Dance Floor) (2:17) 16. Guido e Luisa nostalgico swing (Film version) (1:46) 17. Otto e mezzo (Nostalgico swing) (1:37) 18. Carlotta’s Galop (2:34) 19. Otto e mezzo (Solo piano 2) (1:06) 20. Otto e mezzo (Dreamy Lounge) (0:47) 21. L’Harem (4:34) 22. Otto e mezzo (L’Harem, Part. 2) (0:49) 23. Rivolta nell’Harem (Part 1, film version) (3:03) 24. Rivolta nell’Harem (Part 2, film version) (1:29) 25. Otto e mezzo (Cena della tristezza) (1:15) 26. Otto e mezzo (Solo piano 3) (1:13) 27. La conferenza stampa del regista (4:58) 28. La passerella d’addio (4:51) 29. Finale (2:14)
Total Disc One: 65:55
DISC TWO. The 1963 Soundtrack Album
01. La passerella di Otto e mezzo (2:24) 02. Cimitero / Cigolette / Cadillac / Carlotta’s Galop (5:36) 03. E Poi (2:04) 04. L’illusionista (2:20) 05. Concertino alle Terme (1:58) 06. Nell’ufficio di produzione di Otto e mezzo (3:01) 07. Ricordo d’infanzia / Discesa ai Fanghi (3:48) 08. Guido e Luisa nostalgico swing (3:15) 09. Carlotta’s Galop (2:34) 10. L’harem (4:33) 11. Rivolta nell’Harem / La ballerina pensionata / La conferenza stampa del regista (5:21) 12. La passerella d’addio (5:14)
Bonus Tracks 13. La Cavalcata delle Valkirie (2:27) 14. Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2:12) 15. Il Valzer dei Fiori (2:25) 16. Otto e mezzo (Hotel Lobby) (3:47) 17. Cigolettes da la Banda delle Libellule (Instrumental) (2:35) 18. E poi (Valzer) Alternate (2:08) 19. Otto e mezzo (Dance Floor) Alternate (2:31) 20. Rivolta nell’Harem (Part 2, Vocal) (1:31) 21. L’illusionista (alternate) (3:06)
I was hoping this expanded 8 1/2 would pop up in due course from Quartet, and I'm glad it has. This is (for me), the single BEST news regarding an expanded score since they announced 'La Dolce Vita', and that includes the release of John Williams 2-disc last month. There's simply not enough $$ to spend on everything that's coming out right now. I know I'll be sorry to have missed out on the Grusin set, but that's life. This Nino Rota score is going to be played over and over at my house.
Good Lord, a holy grail not only for Rota fans, but for Fellini fans. Among many, many other things, we'll finally get that incredible, string-laden variation of the main theme that plays over the end credits. Such an amazing release that I'm completely speechless.
I've slowly grown to this style of score thanks to a few Kritzerland releases so I'm excited to hear this after listening to the samples. I am not familiar with this score at all.
Bump, surprised this is not getting more attention on the board. And since I ordered this, I discovered there are quite a few delightful Rota classical pieces on Spotify for me to dig into as well. I did not realize he had composed so much outside of films.
After playing 'The Bride Wore Black' twice I finally got to listen through the 2 discs of Rota's 8 1/2. What can I say? This music is so familiar to me, but there's quite a bit more here. And the sound is very good for it's age. Very crisp. I thought the bonus tracks were also interesting, with the different takes. I really enjoy this set.
I hope there will be more titles by Rota that will follow in expanded form. 'Rocco e i suoi fratelli' for instance or 'Giulietta degli spiriti', although I have no idea if there is anything to expand the existing releases. But if there is, it would be nice to have a remastered edition with more music. Like this superb sounding 8 1/2. What a Christmas it is this year!
Among many, many other things, we'll finally get that incredible, string-laden variation of the main theme that plays over the end credits.
E X A C T L Y .
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P R E C I S E L Y .
I always loved playing the RCA version, but it always broke my heart that they emphasized all those pastiches and ignored so much of the lyrical beauty. (And it wasn't just the adagio element that suffered. Back in college days in 60's Pittsburgh, I remember future Broadway/Hollywood songsmith Stephen Schwartz lamenting that his favorite piece, the shore whore's dance, could only be heard in fragments on that LP...)
And it wasn't just the adagio element that suffered. Back in college days in 60's Pittsburgh, I remember future Broadway/Hollywood songsmith Stephen Schwartz lamenting that his favorite piece, the shore whore's dance, could only be heard in fragments on that LP..
And unfortunately you also won´t hear that famous dance piece (Saraghina´s dance) on the new Quartet edition of 8 1/2 as it was not composed - apparently not even arranged - by Rota at all. Therefore you get only a few fragments (where Rota quotes that rumba for a few seconds) during the two "Harem" tracks. This Cuban rumba had already been written in 1931 by the two composers Walter Samuels and Leonard Whitcup. On Youtube the Italian accordionist Aldo Rossi claimed that in fact his version of the rumba with his own ensemble from the late 50s had been used for the Saraghina dance in 8 1/2. This means that the piece was probably not part of the 1963 soundtrack recording sessions under the direction of Carlo Savina and can therefore also not be found on this new double CD. Here for an example a very early 1931 version of that "Fiesta" rumba:
I can't wait to hear this. A couple of years ago I played all of my Rota/Fellini cds in chronological order and filled in the few gaps I had. What an amazing body of work.
P.S. A bit of trivia: In the early 90s while I was watching the tv show Northern Exposure there was a funeral scene where the deceased was a pilot who crashed. His body and the plane were quite entangled, so the casket with wires and spare parts sticking out was comically brought down the aisle of the church to a dirge version of the Juliet of the Spirits theme. I had always remembered how much Rota's music added to the scene that when the dvd came out I was looking forward to revisiting it, but the Rota had been removed and replaced with something else. I guess they couldn't get the Rota rights for commercial release.
Does anyone know the name of the background music heard when Guido gives a tour of the spaceship set under construction at night, and if it's included on this set?
