This is a marvellous collection refurbished in brilliant Surround Sound. All the great Fellini scores are here including the La Dolce Vita (1960) and Amarcord. Amarcord has probably Rota's strongest and most memorable melody for a Fellini film; Aamarcord being a kaleidoscope of Fellini's memories of growing up in his small home-town during the early rise of Fascism. The decadence of La Dolce Vita is reflected in an unusually bitter score, a sour comment on the characters' perpetual pursuit of gratification. Rota makes discrete reference to Respighi's Roman Trilogy and there are hints of Gregorian plainsong as well as jazz in this rich, complex score. The album's opening music is the exuberant, high-spirited score for Lo Sceicco Bianco (The White Shiekh) (1952), the film about honeymooners in Rome; she enraptured by the actor who portrays her favourite photo-strip character The White Sheikh, and he consoled by a sympathetic prostitute. The music has all the heart-on-sleeve OTT romance one would associate with the Shiekh in a cartoon-caper wrapping. The delicious music for I Vitelloni about a group of young men's adventures in a small town is poised and reflectively romantic with some comic youthful swagger. La Strada about the simple-minded circus waif brutalised by the travelling strong man drew a memorable score from Rota distinguished by its sad poignant opening trumpet figure speaking eloquently of isolation and dejection. Il Bidone (The Swindler) mixes a roguish nobility with jaunty comic impudence. The artless score for Le Notte di Cabiria (The Nights of Cabiria) sparkles from the delicacy of its opening music denoting Cabiria's guileless optimism, through to its jazzy elements and ironic comment on the prostitute's blowsy, carefree demeanour. The brief Boccacio 70 excerpt has the well-known, jolly and cheeky "Drink More Milk" music for the sequence when a giant illustration on a billboard steps down to chase a rather uptight man. 8½ drew as quirky a score as its title for this hallucinogenic tale with a frantic allegro betraying the leading character's (he is caught in a traffic jam when he hallucinates) panic and frustration. For the charming Giulietta degli Spiriti (1965), Rota conceived a score of strange enchantment but grounded with the usual carnival spirits and a few echoes of La Dolce Vita's decadence. Fellini Satyricon has appropriate antiquarian associations. Beginning pensively, again with plainsong associations and elegant simplicity, before the tempo quickens and licentiousness begins with a carefree, cheeky rustic dance. I Clowns has the obvious slapstick as well as Spanish rhythms and some reflective material as well as a catchy melody. Roma is another picaresque kaleidoscopic score, nostalgic and decadent. Il Casanova has music against type in line with Fellini's ultimately bleak and assessment of the character. Finally there is music for the 1979 film Prova D'Orchestra (Orchestral Rehearsal). Here Rota very wittily shows a rehearsal descending into chaos as instruments clash and score off each other before the conductor at last restores order. An excellent compilation Reviewer Ian Lace	Reviewer Ian Lace Reviews from previous months Reviews carry sales links but you can also purchase from:
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