Il fauno di marmo

Digitmovies continues to explore the world of the TV cult with this first-time release of the complete and full stereo OST by Stelvio Cipriani from the TV mini-series in three episodes “Il fauno di marmo” (aka“The Marble Faun”) which was broadcast on RAI Television from September 28th to October 12th, 1977 and was directed by Silverio Blasi. It starred Marina Malfatti as Miriam,an artist with an ambiguous personality, Consuelo Ferrara as Hilda, a young and ingenous American artist, Donato Placido as Donatello, a Roman guy from a wealthy family who blindly falls in love with Miriam, Orso Maria Guerrini, who, besides playing Kenyon, is also the off-screen narrator. This famous TV program was liberally based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Marble Faun). The main characters are inexplicablyy pursued by a mysterious entity who appears to them in the Roman catacombs dressed in a black mantle and hood. The plot begins with Kenyon’s rescue of an anonymous diary from the 19th century where the figures of four friends similar to Kenyon, Miriam, Hilda and Donatello are mentioned. They seem to be condemned to re-live a mystery which had happened 100 years before. In 1977 only a 45 rpm single (Vedette VVN 33290) was issued which contained the song “Un sogno a metà” sung by Lando Fiorini (already a veteran who a few years before had sung  the big hit  “Cento campane” from another TV cult movie  “Il segno del comando”), a romantic, sad and magic motif in a modern arrangement and with a full string orchestra arranged and conducted by M° Cipriani which appeared as the end titles song (Tr.21). For this lengthy CD (73:35) we could use the full stereo master tapes of the original session where also outstanding soloists appear (according to the composer’s memories) like Franco De Gemini on the harmonica and Claudio Simonetti on keyboards (with the later musician the composer had also collaborated  on the OSTs of  “Solamente nero” and “Un’ombra nell’ombra”). The instrumental score alternates electronic and sometimes mysterious atmospheres which almost border on the progressive music style with a recurrent passage of guitar and flute as in Tr.2, Tr.4, Tr.5,Tr.7,Tr.8,Tr.10  and with suggestive instrumental reprises of the song as in the Main Title (Tr.1), Tr.3, Tr.6, Tr.9 (versione bossa), Tr.12, Tr.15, Tr.17,Tr19. A proper rescue and preservation which pays tribute to the music of Stelvio Cipriani and to the Italian Television history.