Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Members of an orchestra assemble in a thirteenth century chapel which is supposed to have perfect acoustics. Also present are two union representatives for the musicians and a television crew; the latter are doing interviews and filming the rehearsal. As the musicians talk about their instruments, they are revealed to be petty, self-centered artists. Eventually the German conductor (Baldin-Bass) appears and the rehearsal begins. After a series of false starts and erroneously played passages, there is a break. The imperious conductor talks about his art. Later on, he is overthrown by the rebellions musicians.

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Orchestra Rehearsal was a controversial 70-minute television presentation. The music was the last work of Nino Rota who created the scores for all of Fellini's movies. This parable can be taken as a commentary on the political chaos in Italy or as a witty reflection on the human condition — especially our penchant for stressing individual liberty over the social good.

Spirituality Practice

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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This movie is one of my all-time favourites: through the "metaphor" of music, a universal picture of a power struggle is shown. Although this may appear 'thin', many layers of this struggle are peeled off. The German (looking) conductor appears to portray an easy comparison to Adolf Hitler, but another could be to Herbert von Karajan, the dictatorial conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker. And then there is the great music score, that still lingers in my head, although I have not been able to find a recording of it (CD/LP?)(after almost 30 years!). I saw this movie again some years ago and it does not look dated. While I am not a Fellini adept and this movie was seen as one of his minor ones, this is a real classic to me.

IMDB Reviewer

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Orchestra Rehearsal, a long-unavailable 1979 short feature by Federico Fellini, is finally seeing domestic release, and while that's a good thing, it's not hard to see why there was no rush to release it outside Europe. Not that it's not a fine film; it is. Subtitled The Decline Of The West In C# Major, it's also a fairly heavy-handed political allegory about post-war Europe. Orchestra Rehearsal is told from the point of view of a television documentary crew covering a rehearsal in a medieval auditorium that also serves as the burial place for several popes. Over the course of the rehearsal, amid much discussion of what drew them to their instruments in the first place, the musicians come into conflict with each other and, more frequently, the conductor. After a short break in the rehearsal, Orchestra Rehearsal then quietly slips off the shackles of realism as wholescale revolt takes hold. A relatively minor film by Fellini standards, it's still smart, compelling viewing, and its conclusion - an ambiguous tribute to the unifying power of the arts - is as provocative as most of the director's films.

A.V. Club

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) Prova d'orchestra [Re-UP]

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Special Features:
- La Felliniana: Chapter 1 – “Polvere di Rimimi” (30:11)
The first part of the documentary looks at Fellini’s background and childhood in Rimini, speaking to friends and family through new interviews and archive footage from old documentaries. The primary film reference for this chapter is Fellini’s Amarcord.

- La Felliniana: Chapter 2 – “Quel Treno per Roma” (24:26)
The second part of the documentary series looks at the real-life inspiration for I Vitelloni (referred to throughout the series in the English subtitles as ‘The Young And The Passionate’), the dream of escape and looking for truth in memories of a world that is long gone.