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Rating: Sublime, unsettling. A unique and surprising artistic combination.
Having reached the peak of his career, Ennio Morricone decides to give new life to his musical works by transforming them into songs. The daring endeavor is entrusted to Dulce Pontes, the chameleonic queen of new-fado. The meeting between the Maestro and the Portuguese Muse occurs by chance in 1995 during the preparation of the soundtrack for the film “Sostiene Pereira” with Marcello Mastroianni.
Dulce is called to replace Amalia Rodrigues for the piece “A Brisa do Coracao”, written by Francesco de Melis and Emma Scoles. Love at first note: the two promise to make an album together. Thus “Focus” is born, an ambitious project where Dulce Pontes gives voice to the most cherished melodies of the Applied Music heritage and five new compositions written exclusively for her. The artistic alliance turns into a musical marvel, a refined sonic blend imbued with a vein of folklore. Dulce is absolutely brilliant, dismantling and recreating those untouchable themes without damaging the aura that made them famous, but rather, she manages to impregnate their essence with the eclectic crossover of her vocal exploration. The project was directed and arranged by Ennio Morricone who, for the occasion, gathered exceptional musicians: the virtuoso Gilda Buttà on piano, Joao Ferreira on percussion, and Antonio Salvatore on violin.
The album opens with “Tema De Amor”, the melancholic refrain of “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso” which in Dulce's vocal strings becomes a disruptive and poignant ballad… Just like “Your Love”, translated from the dusty and rarefied atmospheres of “C’era Una Volta Il West”. “La Ballata di Sacco e Vanzetti”, on the other hand, gains an unusual dramatic quality with a gritty sing that offers glimpses of Pontes’ brief rock incursions. The artistic partnership has also breathed new life into lesser-known themes from Morricone's repertoire, such as “Someone you once knew”, from the soundtrack of “Per le antiche scale” and “Nosso Mar” from the film “Metti una sera a cena”. A separate reflection is deserved by “A Rose Among Thorns”, the piece that reprises the leitmotif of the film “Mission”, emphasizing the indigenous and remote flavor expressed by the performances of Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons.
“Focus” is a vibrant album where voice, sounds, and cinematic déjà-vus produce seductive synesthesias and subtle interferences, capable of unleashing vividly new emotions.
Genre: Soundtracks
Tracklist
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