Mascagni Rapsodia Satanica

[Alan Howe]

Does anybody know this music?>>>
http://www.mdt.co.uk/mascagni-pietro-rapsodia-satanica-rota-staatsphilharmonie-rheinland-pfalz-frank-strobel-capriccio.html

[patmos.beje]

Mascagni's venture into film music!  Pleasant enough music and quite dramatic.

There is a Bongiovanni CD of this with Peter Himpe conducting a youth orchestra which can be heard on YouTube (I have not actually listened to it).    I have an mp3 of a tape from 1984 of Mascagni specialist Kees Bakels conducting this in Utrecht [Kees Bakels made excellent live Dutch recordings of Isabeau (only matched, in my view, by the 2011 Braunschweig version both better than the 1962 San Remo and 1972 Napoli versions and an early 2000s Czech version none of which (excepting the San Remo version) are available on commercial CD), Il piccolo Marat (not as good, in my opinion, as the Warner Fonit Gismondo CD version but better in sound quality) and Nerone all issued on CD by Bongiovanni plus excellent versions of Amica (better than the two CD versions available) and Zanetto, neither available on commercial CD].

The link states 'The French-German TV channel Arte restored this treasure of early cinema in 2006 and recorded the complete film music score which is now available also on CD.'  I suspect 'restored' means revived as both the Himpe and Bakels versions of are of similar length to the new recording.  However, I would guess this new version will be better than the alternative Himpe CD given the German Orchestra involved.

[edurban]

I'll bet "restored" refers to a restoration of the actual film of 1917, as opposed to its soundtrack.  Of course, coordinating picture and sound may have required work as well.

David

[Alan Howe]

If it's merely pleasant, I'll steer clear. If it's more than that...

[jerfilm]

You can watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6yrz1Zbqdw

According to IMDB, the restored version is 45 minutes and this runs 44+ so is probably the restored version.  Unfortunately, there is no indication as to whether the score is Mascani's or not.  The original film was at least 1500 metres longer than the restored version so it certainly would have taken a lot of effort to try to match the score with the shortened film.....

Jerry

[gene schiller]

It's true, in verismo, the orchestra is half the story, but don't shortchange the singer.  In the heyday of verismo, the operas of Mascagni, for instance, were sung by the likes of Gigli (Piccolo Marat, Lodoletta), Caruso (Iris, Le Maschere), Hipolito Lazaro (Parisina), and De Muro (Isabeau), singers who combined suavity as well as power, much like the best Mascagni tenors of today: Pavarotti (L'Amico Fritz), Wolverton (Silvano), Di Stefano (Iris), Campora (Lodoletta), Scuderi (Guglielmo Ratcliff), Martinucci (Piccolo Marat).  There is no substitute for that kind of singing; without it you're missing a crucial aspect of what makes this music great.  And if you haven't heard the final acts of Guglielmo Ratcliff or Parisina, neither of which is available in a first-rate 'modern' recording, you don't know how powerful verismo can be. 

The commercial recordings which come closest to meeting your criteria for good/great singing and up-to-date sound are: L'Amico Fritz (Freni/Pavarotti-EMI), Silvano (Wolverton/Tiboris-Elysium), Iris (Tokody/Domingo-CBS-not the most inimitably sung, despite the stellar line-up, but still a fine recording), and Isabeau (Strow-Piccolo/Van Limpt/Bakels-Bongiovanni); and here's an unsung 'glory' from Cilea: Gloria (Roberti/Labo/Previtali-Bongiovanni - in excellent stereo sound). From the same era (it wasn't all verismo), I'd recommend two fine comic operas: Mascagni's Le Maschere, a first-rate performance (in stereo) from Fonit Cetra (Gallego/Lo Scola/Gelmetti), and Wolf-Ferrari's I Quattro Rusteghi (Noni/Corena), a marvelous performance from Cetra, released in the early '50s, in perfectly satisfactory monaural sound.       Best regards,   Gene Schiller

[adriano]

The music is definitely by Mascagni, as this Bologna advertisement of a 2015 live projection indicates - this time conducted by Timothy Brock (who is the author of the extensive article following the introduction)
http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/proiezione/rapsodia-satanica/
The film was shown on the arte channel in 2007 already (Strobel conducting)
Here more about this:
http://www.mascagni.org/books/rapsodia-satanica

[patmos.beje]

Although I didn't intend to purchase the capriccio CD, as a big fan of Mascagni I eventually succumbed to the temptation.  I have only listened to it once to date.  It is a good recording and enjoyable.  However, it is Mascagni the opera composer whose music my enthusiasm is for and, enjoyable though it is, 'Rapsodia Satanica' is no match in my view for the operatic music (including orchestral episodes).

It looks as if one of the forthcoming Wexford Festival performances of 'Guglielmo Ratcliff' will be broadcast by the BBC on 31 October (see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnpy ).  The best recording I have of this is a New York concert performance in 2003 which, unfortunately, is marred by the tenor singing Ratcliff being out of sync with the orchestra in one of the most dramatic moments in the closing moments of Act 4.  Hopefully, this broadcast (and an off air recording on it) will be good and will supplant the New York performance. 

[gene schiller]

"Rapsodia Satanica" is not a symphony, a symphonic poem, or a rhapsody.  To say it sounds like movie music would also be a little off the mark; more accurately, it sounds like a 'movie,' a drama without words, which unfolds all the more vividly without the benefit of any visual aid.  It's fascinating and unique, and the performance on Capriccio is superb.  Recommended!     

[eschiss1]

... (there's a setup there for "Yes, but is it a Holy Roman Empire?")
(un?)

[gene schiller]

"Is it a Holy Roman Empire?" I didn't preclude the possibility....funny you should ask.

[jerfilm]

I still suggest that you go to YouTube and watch the film and listen to the score.  It may sound like a symphonic poem, but it was written to go with the action on the screen.

J