Nino Rota

January 26, 2006 2:20 PM

The Works of Nino Rota My roommate rolls his eyes. My friends are fed up. It's a mania, really, and I just had to share it: all I want to do nowadays is listen to Nino Rota scores. Giulietta Degli Spirit, Il Casanova, La Strada, Boccacio '70...man oh manishevitz, was he good. What say you, Blue? [Favorite soundtrack music previously discussed here and here]
posted by ford and the prefects (20 comments total)

You're not alone. Several Christmases ago, my uncle gave me a Rota compilation (his work with Fellini) and I became obsessed.
posted by brundlefly at 2:28 PM on January 26, 2006

Viva Rota!

Ford, you've got to hear a tribute album called Amarcord Nino Rota, which gathered together a very impressive roster of musicians -- from a young and then-unknown Bill Frisell to Jaki Byard to Carla Bley to Debbie Harry -- for a set of very spirited jazz covers of Rota's tunes. The import CD is worth it for Frisell's spine-chilling cover of "Juliet of the Spirits" alone, one of Frisell's very best recordings, and his first.
posted by digaman at 2:31 PM on January 26, 2006

Rota



______rocks!
posted by tzelig at 2:34 PM on January 26, 2006

I'll definitely check that out, digaman! There was a record released in 1984, I believe, by a woman named Katyna Ranieri called "Chansons pour Fellini," that consisted of new vocal versions of some of Rota's most-loved compositions for Fellini's films. It's really beautiful, even if some of the "smooth jazz" production flourishes distract. I did some Google research, and I can't find any real info. on it -- it was given to me on a burned CD recently, by a similarly Rota-obsessed Angelino (we're a rare breed, ya know).
posted by ford and the prefects at 2:38 PM on January 26, 2006

I wonder how Rota stands on his own for people who haven't seen the Fellini films. Is the music good, or is most of the grandeur brought in from off the screen?

It's the same with John Williams, Hans Zimmer & Howard Shore -- how good are these composers on their own vs. how evocative is the movies they scored?

I can't say because I only listen to the pieces after I've seen the movies. But there's a doctoral thesis here, if there hasn't been already.
posted by ryrivard at 2:53 PM on January 26, 2006

Thers's an Australian band called The Umbrellas that plays a lot of Rota's works. They have a disc called Bravo Nino Rota! which is pretty terrific .
posted by the duck by the oboe at 3:27 PM on January 26, 2006

Michael Winterbottom's Tristram Shandy, which opens tomorrow, uses a bunch of Rota tunes.
posted by muckster at 3:38 PM on January 26, 2006

The soundtrack from Amarcord is my favorite Rota. I could listen to it forever. The music instantly transports me back to the world in those films.
posted by jasper411 at 3:41 PM on January 26, 2006

Ford-- do you recommend anything in particular, anything besides the Godfather? I think that melody has been spoiled for me by my neighbour's daughter, who plays it incessently yet poorly on her clarinet.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 3:49 PM on January 26, 2006

/adjusts Italian straw hat to rakish angle
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:52 PM on January 26, 2006

Ford-- do you recommend anything in particular, anything besides the Godfather?

Well, I'll pitch my vote behind "Amarcord" and "Giulietta Degli Spiriti." But the "La Dolce Vita" soundtrack is super-influential, as is the "8 1/2." "Il Casanova" was his last with Fellini, I believe, and he starts to creep into some weird, Wendy Carlos-ish electronic flourishes.

But you know, everything he did was golden. You really can't go wrong!
posted by ford and the prefects at 4:00 PM on January 26, 2006

Hey, my buddy has Bravo Nino Rota! - he put it on at a party and I was likin' it.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:15 PM on January 26, 2006

"Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli" is another great soundtrack. I'm a huge Rota fan. Back in the early 90s some label issued several of the more obscure soundtracks, like "Rocco". I had collected a bunch of them, but later had to sell them to feed myself. Now they seem to be out of print. Bah.
posted by trip and a half at 4:17 PM on January 26, 2006

Can you really drive your Vespa and wave a cheery "Ciao" to your paisanos without listening to Rota?
posted by Astro Zombie at 5:17 PM on January 26, 2006

Reminds me of one of many wonderful Magnetic Fields lyrics:

"Reno Dakota, I'm no Nino Rota -- I don't know the score."

(audio sample available here, song is called Reno Dakota)
posted by TonyRobots at 5:39 PM on January 26, 2006

NINA ROTA RULES!!!!!!!
posted by phaedon at 6:12 PM on January 26, 2006

hehe oops.
posted by phaedon at 6:12 PM on January 26, 2006

Damn you TonyRobots! I was totally going to post that. Now I'm pantone 292 .
posted by shoepal at 9:05 PM on January 26, 2006

From the "Rocco" soundtrack: Valzer ai laghi (.ram sample). Also, L'amore di Rocco. From this site.
posted by trip and a half at 11:02 PM on January 26, 2006

"Reno Dakota, I'm no Nino Rota -- I don't know the score."

Have I annoyed you or is there a boy who -- well he's just a whore.

I've had him before.

It makes me drink moooore!
posted by ludwig_van at 11:17 AM on January 27, 2006