Il prigioniero

Digitmovies proudly presents on CD complete and in full stereo another musical jewel by Ennio Morricone from the TV movie broadcasted by Italian Rai Television "Il prigioniero" (aka "The Prisoner") , a free adaptation by screenwriter Fabio Carpi of the novel "Il duello" ("The duel") by Anton Chekov, directed in 1978 by Aldo Lado, produced by Giulio Scanni and starring John Steiner, Marina Malfatti,Josè Quaglio,Attilio Duse,Luigi Di Sales,Flavio Andreini,Ettore Manni,Vincenzo Crocitti, Antonio Casagrande,Gianni Cavina. The main protagonist of the story is an Italian intellectual who is sent to political exile at the dawn of the Second World War. The reason of this measure is not due to his anti-fascism, but to his relationship with the wife of one of Mussolini's party-leaders. At that time C.A.M. released a 45 rpm in stereo (C.A.M. AMP 207) with the two tracks "L'estate è finita" (3:03) and "I due prigionieri" (3:39) (here Tr.1 and Tr.16). Thanks to the friends at C.A.M. we could use for this premiere recording on CD the master tapes with the complete stereo session that gave us the chance to produce a CD with a total length of 59:40. Ennio Morricone has composed an extremely serious score which reflects the whole sentimental and dramatic side of the historic atmosphere in which the protagonist is immersed. The author varies the main theme with different orchestrations: the romantic, but nostalgic "L'estate è finita" for flute, harpsichord and orchestra (Tr.1), reprised in Tr.5 with harpsichord chromatism in Tr.9, with a flute performance in Tr.13 and with harpsichord and orchestra in Tr.15. The second motif "I due prigionieri" (Tr.2) is introduced by the solo flutes in an almost experimental context, later accompanied by cellos and basses and then reprised as a background to psychological suspense with brass, piano and vibes (Tr.3) and fascinating variations (Tr.6,Tr.8,Tr.10,Tr.12,Tr.14,Tr.16). This painful atmosphere is broken up by "source music" which re-creates the sound of that era like the Sicilian folk song for male voice and guitar "Si l'ammuri" (Tr.4) and the romantic old-fashioned romantic tune for male voice, piano and guitar "Dove sei amore" (Tr.11). Another right and proper rescue of the Italian Silver Age and of the wonderful musical art of Ennio Morricone.