New Trolls
Concerto Grosso n° 2

This is what he used to say: “To die, to sleep, maybe to dream… ”

That “Concerto grosso” which was published three years earlier with its evocative black-violet cover marked an important page in the Italian musical panorama, further cementing the rock-classical symphony fusion. To this day, it remains the most famous LP of New Trolls, as well as one of the clearest progressive works from our country.

The formula in three acts accompanied by quality fillers proved to be spot on; so much so that, having “enlisted” once again the brave composer Luis Enriquez Bacalov, the Genoese group decided to throw themselves into creating an unlikely sequel to that masterpiece. The four veterans of the first chapter (Vittorio De Scalzi, Nico Di Palo, Gianni Belleno, Giorgio D'Adamo), with a new guitarist, Ricky Belloni, dove into the recording studio: the commitment was there, but the magic won't be easy to recreate.

In 1974 this work was released, simply titled “Concerto grosso n. 2”.
The “1st movement: vivace”, the usual instrumental opening, starts with a well-accomplished famous keyboard theme: it gives good hopes, also for the excellent contribution of the strings. As the minutes pass, however, the piece seems to lose its way a bit, entrenched on the percussions and the guitar phrases of Di Palo, until it fades tiredly into silence and introduces the delicate and frankly beautiful
“2nd movement: andante (Most Dear Lady)”, a sweet and melodic song characterized by the famous falsetto choruses typical of these talented musicians: once again, the openings of strings and guitar are very beautiful. In my opinion, it is the most significant episode of the second concerto; a concerto that ends more than worthily with the
“3rd movement: moderato (Fare Well You Dove)”. After a falsetto intro, an effective guitar riff accompanied by keyboard effects introduces an evocative instrumental where the intertwining of violins and keyboards is woven together masterfully by the rhythm section. The guitar riff emerges again, followed by the falsetto chorus, finally fading into the reprise of the first movement.

Then, there's the rest of the LP. The expression I've used is horrible, forgive me, but there it is: after all, that they were fillers was clear to everyone from the first chapter. In this case, we have 5 songs (plus a mythical "Vento o cent'anni", evidently excluded from the remastering: I accept clarification on this), three of which are of limited depth and previews of the usual pop drift, tracks perhaps great, but no more than that: I'm talking about the sweet “Vent'anni”, the intense “Bella come mai”, and the choral “Let It Be Me”.
Very beautiful is instead “Quiet Seas”, where a piano intro accompanies a heartfelt interpretation to a dramatic orchestral instrumental, which will return in the final, beautiful track of the LP: “Le Roi Soleil”. A crescendo instrumental led by Belleno's drums flares into a river of keyboard parts and then into a vocal segment immediately duplicated by the beautiful falsetto choruses; followed by a central section of pure madness (where, among very high-pitched moans, Richelieu, Cyrano de Bergerac, champagne and so on are randomly mentioned), which, as someone pointed out (but it's noticeable), may remind of Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Finally, the majestic musical theme already heard in “Quiet Seas” closes the track. Remarkable, truly remarkable.

This is it: going back to the real concerts, number 2, however qualitative, as a whole fails to captivate like its predecessor, where Bacalov's inspiration and that of the band reached a peak. Maybe it's just my impression, but already the fact of giving the individual movements their titles indicates a fundamental disjointedness that wasn’t felt before (indeed, I think “Most Dear Lady” is rather disconnected from the other two parts).
Nevertheless, it remains an enjoyable work, even though falling short of the aspirations such a work had set for itself: not to be overly praised, but certainly not to be dismissed out of hand, thanks to at least two excellent tracks. And anyway, you have to accept it with its predecessor, since they are now sold together, the concertigrossi. And that's a good thing.

Dedicated to my beloved family troll