New Trolls
Concerto grosso (n.1)

The "concerto grosso" is a Baroque musical form from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in which a group of soloists alternates with the symphony orchestra in a continuous "question and answer." The idea of creating a concerto grosso in which the soloists were replaced by a group came to Luis Enrique Bacalov in 1971, who many years later would win an Oscar for the soundtrack of "Il postino." Evidently, Bacalov had sensed the rock world's drive towards more complex compositions compared to the songs that had succeeded in the '60s: perhaps observing the experiments of the Nice, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and maybe Procol Harum, he had the intuition to marry rock and classical music. A combination, it must be said, attempted many times in Italy and especially abroad, almost never with truly successful results. In any case, the idea pleased the record company (it was Fonit Cetra): Bacalov was a young musician of classical background, and perhaps for this reason, he was given credit. He had to change the initial project in only one aspect: for the rock group, he initially wanted the Rokes, but producer Sergio Bardotti convinced him that for what he had in mind, the ideal band was the New Trolls. They, although very young (at the time almost all were under twenty), enjoyed great esteem from critics for some rather courageous and intelligent choices (first of all, trusting many of their lyrics to the young fellow citizen Fabrizio De Andrè) and had a fair amount of success with the audience thanks to a handful of hit singles ("Davanti agli occhi miei", "Sensazioni", "Visioni"…). In short, they had the artistic credibility for such an ambitious project, but also a high level of recognition among the public, two qualities combined that almost all other bands of the era lacked.

In the end, Bacalov and the New Trolls got to work (and for the Genoese group, it was initially not easy to accept the role of mere performers, having only played material written by themselves until then, but they managed, ultimately putting a lot of themselves into Bacalov's scores) and the result was astounding. A million copies sold and a forceful entry into the history of Italian music, as an episode in tune with the latest trends in progressive rock of the time, yet somehow unique and unrepeatable (and the Trolls themselves would realize this years later when trying to follow up on this work). And all this in light of only eleven (11!) minutes of music. Yes, because the true concerto grosso lasts only eleven minutes, and the entire record "completed" with other tracks does not reach 40 minutes. Yet those eleven minutes truly reveal the simple and perfect touch of genius. The Concerto begins strongly with a tight alternation between orchestra and band where Di Palo's guitar and De Scalzi's flute stand out: it seems impossible that a rock theme and a typically eighteenth-century aria could find common ground, yet it happens. As it does in the second movement, an adagio of noble structure in which the unmistakable voices of the group also make their entrance. Once again, Di Palo and De Scalzi's guitars dialogue with the violins without any force, in an astonishingly natural manner. Finally, the third movement: an andante opened by a splendid violin cadence flowing into a melody of great beauty into which the electric guitar weaves, while the solo violin continues to embroider arabesques. A small masterpiece and the fitting conclusion to eleven minutes of magic.

Then there's the rest of the album: the original A-side of the vinyl closed with the reprise for the group alone of the concerto's adagio, in a Hendrixian style that intended to pay homage to the great guitarist who had just passed away, while the B-side consisted of a long improvisation by the band recorded live, comprising themes taken from improvisations the New Trolls habitually performed live and from "Il sole nascerà" which had already appeared as the B-side of "Una miniera." In short, while of very good quality, they were "only" excellent fillers necessary to package an album in which to include those magical eleven minutes and deliver them to history and memory.