Total Film April 2016

The film was a sensation and audiences all over the world were entranced. It was hugely influential and ushered in a whole era of Comedy, Italian Style. Aiding and abetting the mischievous fun was the wonderful score by Carlo Rustichelli. Rustichelli, born in 1916, had begun working in film in 1939 and by 1962 had become a hugely popular composer for Italian films. His first film for Pietro Germi was Lost Youth in 1948 and thus began one of the longest and most fruitful director/composer collaborations ever, with Rustichelli composing scores for all but the first of Germi’s films – eighteen in total. He also worked with other directors such as Billy Wilder, Mario Bava, Gillo Pontecorvo, Luigi Comencini, and provided scores for countless sword and sandal films, spaghetti westerns, crime films, and just about every genre imaginable. He was a superb melodist, and Divorce, Italian Style is rife with great themes, which all serve the film perfectly. In fact, the film would be unthinkable without Rustichelli’s wonderful and tuneful score.

This disc is the first ever to offer the complete Shostakovich score to the 1964 Grigori Kozintsev film Hamlet. Actually, it contains a bit more: track 6 for example, "The Ball," presents music not heard in the film, music the composer wrote apparently because he wanted to reach a logical ending, even if in the film the music just fades away. There are 23 numbers in all, with a total timing of over 62 minutes. Stylistically, the music is related to the Eleventh (1957) and Thirteenth (1962) symphonies, but is of course less developmental and more programmatic, coming across as a sort of tone poem made up of many short movements.

This two-fer from Dutton Vocalion features a pair of out of print LPs by easy listening artist Mantovani: Mr. Music… Mantovani and More Mantovani Film Encores, originally issued in 1966 and 1959. These 24 tracks find the conductor/musician/arranger interpreting such traditional material as "Spanish Flea," "Strangers in the Night," and "When You Wish Upon a Star." This is an enjoyable reissue chosen from Mantovani's numerous London albums.

Concord release Thank You Friends: Big Star’s Third Live… and more celebrating the musical legacy of one of rock’s most influential bands – Big Star- and their legendary Third album. Experience this classic of late ’70s power pop through the prism of a collective of immensely talented fans, including members of Wilco, R.E.M., Yo La Tengo, and, of course, Big Star. Following the untimely death of Alex Chilton two days ahead of Big Star's SXSW performance in 2010, famous friends and fans came from far and wide to play the gig in his honour. Much of that spontaneous ensemble, along with other musical titans, assembled at Glendale, CA’s Alex Theatre in April 2016 to record and film an epic performance.