The Film Music of Nino Rota (on Piano)

This recording of the film music of Nino Rota contains transcriptions for the piano made by the composer, as played to friends. Not only does it include the great international successes such as The Godfather, Romeo and Juliet, Otto e mezzo, Giulietta degli spiriti, The Taming of the Shrew and Il Gattopardo (The Leopard), but it also includes unpublished soundtracks, in particular those written for films mistakenly considered ‘minor’ such as Fanciulle di lusso (Luxury Girls), Fantasmi a Roma (Ghosts in Rome) and Quel bandit sono io (Her Favourite husband).

Also included are the musical masterpieces he wrote for British films, The Legend of the Glass Mountain and Obsession. Rota had a special fondness for these, and it was largely through them that he achieved international star status in the forties, well before his outstandingly successful collaboration with Fellini. Such was the success of the score for The Glass Mountain that it was broadcast in its entirety at scheduled times, with the famous love scene as recorded here played on the piano by Nino Rota himself. To Rota it was the theme that was dearest to him of all.