Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto & Marco Serino - Morricone: Cinema Rarities for Violin and String Orchestra (2023) [Hi-Res]

The idea for this album came about during the recordingof its predecessorCinema Suites(BBC Music Magazine's "Screen Choice", Album of the Week on WDR3 etc.), when the Morricone family sent Marco Serino a number ofraritiesthat they hoped could also be recorded,particularly"Dedicated to Maria" (from the filmThe Sleeping Wife) that the composer had dedicated to his wife. These works, along with others that Serino rediscovered in his own archives, make up the backbone ofCinema Rarities, an ideal sequel to the previous recording.Aftertwenty yearsasEnnio Morricone's chosen violinist, Serino continues his exploration of the compositions for violin and orchestra, but this time with a particular focus on pieces that, besides being less well known to the wider public, all share a degree of "Italianness".

The main nucleus of the program consistsof threesuites named after three Italian film directors (Silvano Agosti, Mauro Bolognini and the Taviani brothers), with whom Morricone worked closely. Although the respective films did not achieve the international acclaim of those directed by Sergio Leone or Giuseppe Tornatore, which featured in the previous recording, theyinspiredthe composer to come up with new and distinctive solutions, such as "Love Remembered" fromThe Inheritance, considered by Marco Serino to be one of the most beautiful.

Equallyquintessentially Italian are the two extracts from the scores forThe Lady Caliphdirected by Alberto Bevilacqua, including the lovely "Nocturne" and the brief "Quasi un Vivaldi" (from Sergio Sollima's filmRevolver), which herald by almost a decade remakes like Gian Piero Reverberi's Rondo Veneziano.

A unique placeis occupiedbyFourAdagios, a collection of four pieces chosen by the composer himself (including the iconic "Whoever" and "Deborah's Theme"), which in this arrangement for violincitesthe main theme of the first movement of the Beethoven Concerto. Dedicated to Serino and performed worldwide under the baton of Morricone,FourAdagiosspeaks tothe artistic partnershipbetween composer and violinist, their mutual professional respect and deep friendship.