FULL Faust a Manhattan (Nascimbene) RAI TV-Opera Italy 1965 Antonio Boyer, Giancarlo Sbragia, Elena Zilio

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Faust a Manhattan   
• Composer: Nascimbene Mario   
• Libretto: Luigi Candoni    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: RAI Studio Italy  
• Recorded: 1965
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Antonio Boyer, Alek Pilikian, Lilia Reyes, Fernando Iacopucci, Dora Carral, Giancarlo Sbragia, Elena Zilio, Angelo Pietri
• Conductor: Franco Ferrara  
• Orchestra:
• Chorus Master: Franco Potenza  
• Choreographer: Ugo dell'Ara  
• Stage Director: Sandro Bolchi  
• Stage Designer: Maurizio Mammi  
• Costume Designer: Vera Carotenuto  
• Lighting Designer: Davide Altschüler  

Information about the Recording

• Date Published: 1965  
• Format: Broadcast
• Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
• Subtitles: nosubs  
• Video Recording from: RAIPlay     FULL VIDEO
•  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

Mario Nascimbene ( Milan , 28 November 1913 – Rome , 6 January 2002 ) was an Italian composer and conductor .

Equipped with a keen musical talent, he enrolled at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory of Music in Milan , where he was a student of Ildebrando Pizzetti . After obtaining a diploma in composition and orchestral conducting, he initially dedicated himself to the composition of symphonic and chamber music.

In 1941 he was asked to write the musical commentary for the film L’amore canta , directed by Ferdinando Maria Poggioli . The success of the film pushed him to dedicate himself almost exclusively to the composition of soundtracks for the “seventh art”.

During the decade 1945-55, his cinematographic activity increased and his compositions for films became more numerous. Nascimbene establishes himself as one of the newest and most original Italian film musicians, also showing remarkable versatility and flexibility. In fact, he casually goes on to compose soundtracks for films of human and social commitment, for comedies of manners, for dramatic and sentimental films, for historical “blockbusters”. On every occasion he always demonstrates a high degree of professionalism, sometimes accompanied by particularly new and original ways of conceiving the relationship between the musical commentary and the subject of the cinematographic work.

Nascimbene is almost unanimously considered by critics to be one of the best authors of soundtracks in Italian cinema of the 20th century thanks above all to the originality of the innovations he introduced in the writing of the score, including the use of non-orchestral instruments, such as the wind chime . and the mouth organ , and of sound sources coming from everyday life, such as the ticking of a clock, the bell of a bicycle or the noise of the typewriters he used in the soundtrack of Roma ore 11 (1952).

During his career Mario Nascimbene will establish lasting artistic and cultural partnerships with artists such as Filiberto Sbardella and renowned directors such as Roberto Rossellini and Giuseppe De Santis , for whom he will write the music, in addition to the aforementioned Roma ore 11 , of Days of Love (1955), and Of Men and Wolves (1957). In this last musical score Nascimbene used themes from Abruzzo musical folklore, achieving great dramatic effectiveness.

Mario Nascimbene’s work also received acclaim overseas, and orders soon arrived from Hollywood for the creation of the soundtracks of famous films including The Barefoot Countess (1954) directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz , Carthage in Flames (1959) directed by Carmine Gallon , Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (1959) directed by King Vidor and Barabbas (1961) directed by Richard Fleischer .

He also tried his hand at opera with the opera Faust in Manhattan directed by maestro Franco Ferrara and filmed at the RAI auditorium in Naples, directed by Sandro Bolchi , starring the Baritone Antonio Boyer .

Nascimbene also worked for television, composing the music for some of the most famous RAI television dramas, including Atti degli apostoli (1969) and Aeneid (1971).

In 1975 he wrote the music for Roberto Rossellini ‘s film Il messia .

In the 80s and 90s Nascimbene’s compositional activity became less frequent, while his commitments as a lecturer and teacher of seminars on film music composition increased. His latest works are the soundtracks of Il vento e l’amore – Progetto Manzù , an educational film by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia of Rome directed in 1982 by Glauco Pellegrini on the life of the famous sculptor, presented at the fiftieth anniversary of the Venice Film Festival , and Blue dolphin documentary directed by Giorgio Moser in 1990. For the latter his work he obtained a nomination for the David di Donatello Award , which however he did not win. The following year, however, he was awarded a special David di Donatello in recognition of his career.

In addition to having composed the soundtracks of over 300 films, Mario Nascimbene also appeared only once on the big screen as an actor, playing the part of Prof. Ferrara in the film Storia di una donna , directed in 1969 by Leonardo Bercovici .

Mario Nascimbene was very attached to the Argentario Promontory , where he had a residence.

In 2022, the ballet “Ballett Konzert” for which Nascimbene wrote the music and story was staged in its world premiere in Turin at the Teatro San Siuseppe. [4]

The “Mario Nascimbene Award” is dedicated to his memory , which is given to young soundtrack composers.