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Fellini! E più
Nino ROTA (1911-1979)
Nights of Cabiria (1957) [4:52]
I vitelloni (1953) [3:36]
The Road (1954) [4:38
The White Sheik (1952) [3:07]
The Godfather (1972) [3:16 theme] and [3:18 waltz]
Romeo and Juliet (1968) [3:30]
8½ (1963) [4:40] and [2:10 waltz]
Juliet of the Spirits (1965) [4:23]
Risatine maliziose (1978) [2:36]
The Clowns (1970) [3:46]
Amarcord (1973) [4:03]
Alain ROMANS (1905-1989)
My Uncle (1958) [2:44]
Mr Hulot’s Holiday ‘Quel temps fait-il à Paris?’(1953) [3:45]
Luiz BONFÁ (1922-2001)
Black Orpheus (1959) [4:28]
John WILLIAMS (b. 1932)
Schindler’s List (1993) [4:00]
Charlie CHAPLIN (1889-1977)
Modern Times - ‘Smile’ (1936) [3:21]
Carlos GARDEL (1890-1935)
Por una cabeza - music used in the film Scent of a Woman (1992) [3:55]
Die Österreichischen Salonisten: Peter Gilmayr (violin); Kathrin Lenzenweger (violin); Judith Bik (cello); Roland Weisinger (double bass); Peppone Ortner (clarinet and saxophone); Wieland Nordmeyer (piano)
rec. Saal der Landesmusikschule, Bad Schallerbach, Germany; 20-22 February 2012
GRAMOLA 98958 [70:14]

A glance at the heading above and readers will notice that these are pared down performances: small ensemble rather than sumptuous orchestral renderings. You pays your money and takes your choice. Clearly, the choice will also depend on the track-listing above. It has to be said that there is no lacking of colour nor want of enthusiasm for this music among these performers. Take for example the perky, cheeky jazzy rendering that is the Die Österreichischen Salonisten’s rendering of Rota’s music for the opening number Nights of Calabria. There is also enough rubato and no shortage of emotional involvement for John Williams’ affecting Schindler’s List.
 
Most of these selections will be familiar to film music enthusiasts. The chamber ensemble performances will delight and make for pleasant late evening easy-listening - perhaps earlier for the more strident utterances such as those in the latter part of I vitelloni! Every mood is catered for from the sentimental and nostalgic to the witty and downright quirky.
 
Standout tracks for me include: Nino Rota’s Godfather waltz, given here with a salty bittersweet twist to its intimacy; the merry capers implicit in the quirkiness of Rota’s music for Fellini’s 8½; and his haunting - in more senses than one - score for Juliet of the Spirits, plus that nostalgic glow that is his Amarcord. I was equally attracted by the atmospheric and comically melancholic music, by Alain Romans, for the two Jacques Tati films. Also who could resist that memorable Black Orpheus melody by Luiz Bonfá? - or Carlos Gardel’s sexy tango that lifted Scent of a Woman. 

A delight for film music fans.
 
Ian Lace