{"id":3494,"date":"2011-08-30T23:24:08","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T03:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3494"},"modified":"2011-08-30T23:24:08","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T03:24:08","slug":"cd-appassionata-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3494","title":{"rendered":"CD: Appassionata (1974)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>A<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: \u00a0Quartet Records (Spain) <\/a>\/ Released: 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length:\u00a0 CD1: 11 tracks \/ (35:36) + CD2: 34 tracks \/ (71:23)<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Notes:\u00a0 12-page colour booklet with liner notes by Gergely Hubai \/ Limited to 500 copies.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Composer:\u00a0 Piero Piccioni<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Even though the plot of Appassionata<\/strong> differs from fellow erotic teaser Last Tango in Paris<\/strong> (1972), it\u2019s quite clear composer Piero Piccioni was either inspired by the sax-heavy, orchestral-lounge fusion of Gato Barbieri\u2019s Tango<\/strong> score, or director Gianluigi Calderone wanted a score written in that specific style, with a similar emphasis on sax, strings, waltzes, and melancholy.<\/p>\n

Right from the first cue, Piccioni sets up a tease in which the film\u2019s first erotic theme, \u201cStrano Mercodeli 2\u201d \u2013 light sax, quixotic organ, punchy drums \u2013 establishes an expectation in audiences for a frothy sexual misadventures whose taboos fall within the realm of safe<\/em> titillation, but subsequent cues introduce darker shades which more directly tie to troubled marriages, and older men behaving badly with very young girls. (The film is notorious for 19 year old Ornella Muti playing a teenager with Wrong Ideas and Bad Behaviour.)<\/p>\n

Piccioni\u2019s other themes include a delicate waltz (\u201cLa chatte\u201d) with a dominant mandolin conveying a lilting romantic ambiance, and a variation (\u201cValzer di Valzentina\u201d) with strings and shimmering organ.<\/p>\n

Piccioni\u2019s love of electric organ also manifests itself in \u201cDonna oggetto non identificata,\u201d where the first theme slowly unravels in an unfixed tempo to evoke a character\u2019s uncertainty, hesitation, and wavering; whereas a quick switch to the film\u2019s main theme (\u201cAppassionata\u201d) introduces a bit of sadness before a quick fadeout.<\/p>\n

In its first incarnation, the film\u2019s proper main theme, \u201cAppassionata,\u201d begins as a solo piano piece. After a brief recap of the semi-tragic melody, strings slowly seep in, followed by oboe. Swelling strings convey passion and the characters\u2019 na\u00efve expectations, but like his masterwork, Camille 2000 <\/strong>(1969), the composer twists the melody into a deeply melancholic shade, and ends the cue without any thematic resolution.<\/p>\n

A dreamier version lies in \u201cPresi per incantamento,\u201d where Piccioni really goes for top-level melancholy by using similar a harmonic arrangement as Camille<\/strong>\u2019s tragic theme. Even with drums and light instrumental touches \u2013 such as mandolin briefly accompanying the soprano sax\u2019s melodic line \u2013 moments of joy are fleeting, and the theme was carefully designed to avoid coloring the characters with stark, clich\u00e9d moods.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecrizione di un sogno\u201d pairs soprano sax with oboe, and the lovely duet infers a fleeting sense of stability, as two characters seem to feel comfortable in their taboo relationship, but the lack of a closing statement similarly conveys a state of ephemeral bliss.<\/p>\n

In Appassionata<\/strong>, Piccioni wrote striking theme variations, and perhaps more than Camille 2000<\/strong>, <\/strong>there\u2019s a greater focus on introspection \u2013 if not from the characters\u2019 perspectives, then perhaps the composer making a subtle statement on the moral conflicts within the film, as evidenced by two delicate piano solos.<\/p>\n

Piccioni also twists themes as the drama becomes darker, such as \u201cLa chatte a la Satie,\u201d where every note is a bit off, and the carnival organ notes are imprecise. The same deliberate imperfections appear in \u201cAppassionata n.2\u201d where the notes on keyboards transgress into a slight discord.<\/p>\n

Whereas Disc 1 in this limited set features the original concise and smooth-flowing original soundtrack album release, Quartet Records have raided the Cinevox archives and packed every alternate cue on Disc 2. The pros: you get everything. The cons: it does get mighty repetitive, although the producers\u2019 re-ordering of cues does help.<\/p>\n

This stellar release features superb mastering, and booklet liner notes provide a brief overview on the stars, and bio notes on Piccioni, who maintained an important legal job until his scoring skills were eventually embraced by a steady stream of producers and directors.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album <\/a>— Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ A . Rating: Very Good Label: \u00a0Quartet Records (Spain) \/ Released: 2011 Tracks & Album Length:\u00a0 CD1: 11 tracks \/ (35:36) + CD2: 34 tracks \/ (71:23) . Special Notes:\u00a0 12-page colour booklet with liner notes by Gergely Hubai \/ Limited to 500 copies. . Composer:\u00a0 Piero Piccioni . . […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[694],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-Um","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3494"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3524,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions\/3524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}