Continuing my rundown of scores mentioned in last summer’s Big Board Extravaganza that I haven’t heard before.
Last time - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=133031
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This time - La Strada (1954)
Nino Rota; conducted by Franco Ferrara
Mentioned by: Jack Lindon, Night
Whereas other later films by Federico Fellini sometimes used carnival music as an ironic or comic element, the usage of such material by Nino Rota in the earlier La Strada (literally translating as The Road) hews a little closer to the actual narrative, with the director’s story of a simple-minded woman purchased by a brutish street performer requiring some circus-like accompaniment for various performance scenes - never mind the literal circus that appears halfway in the film. Even here though, the usage is still ironic at times, the jollity in the early goings suggesting Anthony Quinn’s performer is nowhere near as big time as he thinks he is. But arguably the score succeeds more on the basis of several wistful melodies that Rota seems to attach less to characters but more uses as a tapestry of lovely ideas. It’s a often bitty score in context with a preponderance of shorter tracks, and it’s a much less audacious musical creation than the later, more famed collaborations between the director and the composer, lacking the crazed melting pot feel of La Dolce Vita, the absurdity of 8½, and the nostalgia of Amarcord. But its tunes remain rather captivating, even the one that is somewhat of a reworking of a melody by Antonín Dvořák.
La Strada remains the most notable collaboration between Fellini and Rota to lack an adequate album. 19 tracks covering 28 minutes were released alongside Nights of Cabiria on a 1992 CD from the Italian record label Legend, a program which seems to have ended up on Spotify in questionably legitimate fashion (oof, that cover) and showcases decidedly archival sound and even some extracts from the film’s music and effects track. One would hope that Quartet Records (having already released updates to The Swindle, La Dolce Vita, 8½, Satyricon, Roma, Amarcord, and the Toby Dammit segment of Spirits of the Dead) or Music Box Records (The Clowns, Casanova, and Orchestra Rehearsal) will get around to this one in the near future.
Thankfully, with Fellini reworking his material into a ballet over a decade after the movie came out, the music of La Strada has survived thanks to various classical compilation albums featuring the composer’s later concert suite program. Folks should keep in mind that the nature of what Rota crafted for the stage is often much more vast than what he wrote for the film, and the ballet also includes bits from other Fellini scores. Regardless, its recordings on a 1992 EMI album conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti and a 1995 Sony album conducted by Riccardo Muti are both highly recommended.
Score as heard in film: ****
Film recording as heard on album: **
https://open.spotify.com/album/17MKLqBJYlQTMI5hsMhYA4?si=DjLJlLk6TWyh2xgeb3X-_Q
7-minute Prague Philharmonic suite - https://open.spotify.com/track/5jZSCoXC7OVY8jcoHwtT23?si=56562ec08e3749fd
Concert suite for the music of the 1966 ballet: *****
- 1992 EMI album - https://open.spotify.com/album/7xnfLM9K0spwdliOaLLz7Q?si=Jh6Xqyj0RMuMSH6FtMTmvQ
- 1995 Sony album - https://open.spotify.com/album/6vxiXTmhMnhPFkLTqwEG8N?si=hS06ymHlT_On-1nOXEvoRw
David Letterman’s joke from his infamous Oscars hosting gig about lucky winners’ gift baskets now containing a child with Anthony Quinn was hilarious then and now.
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Next time: 1956
