La Frusta e il corpo - Sei donne per l'assassino

Digitmovies proudly presents our second volume decicated to the original scores for the movies directed by Mario Bava, the Italian maestro of horror and noir cinema. This volume focuses on the original scores by Carlo Rustichelli (1916-2004) for La frusta e il corpo/The Whip and the Body (1963) and Sei donne per l’assassino/Blood and Black Lace (1964). As always, this deluxe two-disc set is made possible by the strong support and valuable cooperation of the great C.A.M. Film Music Archives. Regarding La frusta e il corpo, there is an urban legend surrounding the supposed release of a 33 rpm album featuring several cues, because the sleeve for such a release was advertised in an old C.A.M. illustrated catalogue. But officially, only a 45rpm single (C.A.M. CA -2523 ) was issued in 1963 containing Parts 1 and 2 of “The Windsor Concerto.”No album master was found in the C.A.M. vaults, indicating that no such LP was ever prepared for release. Fortunately, all of the original monaural master tapes have survived, giving us the opportunity to release here, for the first time, the complete film score on Disc 1, using every musical note recorded during the 1963 recording session. M. Rustichelli’s symphonic score is built around “The Winsor Concerto,” a haunting love theme for piano and orchestra. This beautiful theme is presented for the first time in “Main Titles” (tr.1) after a brief dramatic intro; this motif of love and despair is often reprised by Rustichelli, alternating it with recurrent dramatic semi-atonal passages as the perfect musical background to life in an ancient castle near a turbulent sea. At the end of Disc 1’s program, we have included as bonus tracks a concert version of “The Windsor Concerto” (a medley prepared and authorized by the composer), fusing the two parts of the original 1963 single release, as well as a unique version not heard in the film itself. M. Rustichelli was exceptionally proud of this composition, which he included on the short lists of his best work. In 1964, he scored another Bava classic, Sei donne per l’assassino, and that same year, C.A.M. issued a 45 rpm single (C.A.M. CA -2559 ) featuring two tracks,”Atelier” (a reference to the film’s working title “L’atelier della morte”) and “Defilé” (in mono sound). Happily, the complete recording sessions have survived in the C.A.M. vaults and, upon listening to them, we were delighted to discover that not only were they in very good condition, but recorded in full stereophonic sound! And that is how you will hear the entirety of Disc 2, for the first time! Disc 2 contains Rustichelli’s complete orchestral score, which contains suspenseful, dissonant passages for the mystery scenes and dramatic music for the scenes of homicide. The gloomy atmosphere is interrupted by the lounge-style theme “Atelier,” introduced in “Main Titles” (tr. 1), a Latin-flavored theme played by trumpet and sax accompanied by a small ensemble and reprised throughout the score in a number of mysterious orchestral variations. As bonus tracks, we have included the original mono sides from the original C.A.M. single as well as a stereo alternate take of the “Main Titles” sans trumpet. We had hoped to include in this set Carlo Rustichelli’s score for Mario Bava’s masterpiece Operazione paura/Kill, Baby... Kill! (1966), but our investigations revealed that the film was entirely scored with library music from the C.A.M. Film Music vaults. Some of that music can be heard on these two discs, as it originated in the two scores presented here, while other cues were composed by such masters as Francesco De Masi, Angelo F. Lavagnino, Armando Trovajoli and Roman Vlad. We dedicate this deluxe two-disc set to the memory of M°Carlo Rustichelli, an unforgettable composer and beloved friend, who would have been very pleased by the release of this music.