Nino Rota - Otto E Mezzo (1962)

Another Nino Rota Masterpiece and One of the Cornerstone Pieces of his Career. From the Film by the Late Federico Fellini Starring Marcello Mastrianni and Claudia Cardinale. The Film Won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film as Well as Many Others.
*81/2" is Fellni's masterpiece as a film director, and with "La Strada," "La Dolce Vita," "Juliet of the Spirits" and "Amarcord," one the finest scores Rota composed for Fellini during his 30-year collaboration (ended only by the composer's death) with the director. I've enjoyed this recording since RCA issued in the U.S. in 1963 and also have the earlier stereo CD version produced by CAM in 1991. The selections are the same here as on the earlier issues. Regrettably, some major cues are missing. La Saraghina's dance, for instance, is heard not from the famed beach sequence, but only in a snippet reprised in the even more famous harem scene. Sadder, the nostalgic underscore, principally for guitar, to Guido's rememberance of one magic night from his boyhood and the wordless vocalise sung over the film's final credits aren't here either. Still, Rota's collage (including everything from music for circus band to some wittily employed selections from Rossini, Tchiakovsky and Wagner) remains potent, amusing and a complete delight.