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Remembering Nino Rota (1911-1979), born on Dec. 3.
Nino Rota (short biography)
Nino Rota (December 3, 1911 in Milan – April 10, 1979 in Rome) was an Italian composer and conductor, particularly renowned for his compositions for cinema (original music for around 170 films).
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Nino Rota was born on December 3, 1911 in Milan, into a family of musicians. From his childhood, he studied at the Milan conservatory, under the direction of Ildebrando Pizzetti.
He acquired a certain reputation as a composer and conductor from his childhood, his first oratorio, L’infanzia di San Giovanni Battista, having for example been performed in Milan and Paris in 1923, when he had only only twelve years old.
In 1929 he entered the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, where he studied under Alfredo Casella.
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The conductor Arturo Toscanini then advised him to go and improve his skills in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). There Rota obtained a scholarship to the Curtis Institute, where he studied, from 1930 to 1932, under the direction of Fritz Reiner (conducting) and Rosario Scalero (composition).
Returning to Milan, he continued his education by studying literature at the University of Milan. He also wrote a thesis dedicated to Gioseffo Zarlino, Renaissance composer.
He then turned towards a career in music teaching, from 1937, which he pursued alongside his work as a composer, and which led him to take the direction, in 1979, of the Bari conservatory, which he kept until his death.
Rota wrote his first scores for cinema in 1933 for Treno popolare by Raffaelo Matarazzo, then for Zazà, 1944 film directed by Renato Castellani. He also worked for Edgar G. Ulmer, Alberto Lattuada, Henry Cass, Luigi Comencini, Terence Young and Henri Verneuil. He met director Federico Fellini while he was working on his first film, Lo sceicco bianco (1952). This was the beginning of numerous collaborations between the director and the composer, such as for Les Vitelloni, La strada, La dolce vita.
The soundtrack of the film Eight and a Half is, for example, often cited as one of the most striking elements of the film, which gives it a certain “coherence”. He is also the author of the music for Fellini’s Satyricon, Amarcord and Casanova. His last work with Fellini was Orchestral Rehearsal (Prova d’orchestra) in 1978, one of his masterpieces.
Among Nino Rota’s most famous scores, let us also mention those of The Godfather and The Godfather II, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli or those of The Leet or Rocco and His Brothers by Luchino Visconti.
Apart from his work for the seventh art, Nino Rota also composed ten operas, five ballets and many other instrumental works, including the Concerto Soirée (for piano and orchestra) (1962).
He died on April 10, 1979 in Rome, of coronary thrombosis.
Nino Rota: The Godfather – Suite, Boian Videnoff – Mannheimer Philharmoniker
Nino Rota: The Godfather – Suite Mannheimer Philharmoniker Boian Videnoff, conductor Stefan Tarara, concertmaster Live from the Rosengarten Mannheim, 01. January 2019 Director: Sören Klitzing Director of Photography: Thomas Kutschker Sound: Bauer Studios Ludwigsburg Streaming: in medias res, Jens Breith Post-Production: Sören Klitzing.