L'Isola

Ennio Morricone

 
" After having listened to the release repeatedly, it still feels like I do not know the actual score well enough. "

Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the regular release

L´isola (2012) is a tv series produced by Rai, the national public broadcasting company of Italy. Its story concerns itself with the Italian Coast Guard hunting down those responsible for illegal experiments that could lead to an ecological disaster. It was directed by Alberto Negrin, whose collaborations with Ennio Morricone resulted in sublime music to I guardiani del cielo, Il Segreto di Sahara, Missus, Gino Bartali, L’Intramontabile and Mi Ricordi di Anne Frank.

Ennio Morricone´s scores for tv movies and (mini) series have inspired him to write sensational music for Rai projects, most notably are his efforts for La Piovra, I Promessi Sposi, Gino Bartali, L’Intramontabile and Mi Ricordi di Anne Frank. The channel used to release their score under the name of the label Rai Trade, sometimes in collaboration with others. In modern days, more national public channels around the world seek to re-define their initial purpose, followed by economic problems that arise. Rai Trade ceased their music releases indefinitely. The 2009 tv movie Pane e Libertà marked the end of their era, which regretfully meant the great Mi Ricordi di Anne Frank went unreleased. Therefore, it explains why the music to the series L'Isola is a re-recording, which is cheaper to produce. I Solisti e Orchestra del Cinema Italiano, responsible for some really bad Morricone re-recordings, worked together with Ever Kent, to produce a whopping complete two cd release.

I have not had the opportunity to see any of the 12 episodes of the series, but luckily the re-use of previously written material from other Morricone projects for Rai series has given me a sense of how deviating the re-recording is from the original Morricone recording. The music that resurfaced for the series of L'Isola includes pieces from L'Ultimo dei Corleonesi, Gino Bartali, l'intramontabile, Perlasca, Un eroe italiano and Missus. Senza ritorno is a theme, that is often used throughout the episodes, originally composed for Missus. This cue alone is explains how different its original and re-recording are; just very disappointed. Generally, much of the specific Morricone orchestrations and instruments are completely lost and replaced by synthesizer mock-ups. For purists of (Morricone) film music this is simply atrocious and there is no need to further describe the music in detail.

The release offers an insight into the scope of the score, but it is more of a curiosity study than anything else. After having listened to the release repeatedly, it still feels like I do not know the actual score well enough. Curiously, the positive quote on the front cover was lifted from an article, based on the score as heard in the series, by the same person who also contributed to the music release.



Tracklist
Disc 1

1. Senza ritorno (02:58)
2. Chitarra e duduk - versione 1 (04:36)
3. Amore primo (02:31)
4. Chitarra e duduk - versione 2 (02:17)
5. Tensione prima (03:45)
6. Immobile - versione 1 (02:48)
7. Tema primo - versione 1 (03:16)
8. Azione prima - versione 1 (02:35)
9. Tensione seconda (02:57)
10. Source prima (01:43)
11. Indagine - versione 1 (02:02)
12. Amore secondo - versione 1 (02:16)
13. Immobile - versione 2 (02:39)
14. Replica - versione 1 (04:48)
15. Source seconda (02:16)
16. Amore per poco - versione 1 (03:29)
17. Dachau - versione 1 (01:54)
18. Azione seconda (03:13)
19. Source terza (01:32)
20. Amore terzo - versione 1 (03:34)
21. Amore secondo - versione 2 (02:17)
22. Immobile - versione 3 (02:40)
23. Tema secondo - versione 1 (02:10)
24. Meditazione prima - versione 1 (00:58)
25. Indagine - versione 2 (01:31)

Disc 2

1. Intermezzo - versione 1 (02:57)
2. Tema primo - versione 2 (03:16)
3. Replica - versione 2 (04:44)
4. Amore quarto (02:56)
5. Divertimento (01:28)
6. Tema terzo - versione 1 (02:46)
7. Tensione terza (03:00)
8. Source quarta (01:23)
9. Amore terzo - versione 2 (03:34)
10. Meditazione seconda (02:28)
11. Azione prima - versione 2 (02:38)
12. Amore per poco - versione 2 (03:29)
13. Source quinta (02:06)
14. Immobile - versione 4 (01:53)
15. Replica - versione 3 (04:44)
16. Tema secondo - versione 2 (01:25)
17. Azione terza (00:28)
18. Dachau - versione 2 (02:02)
19. Intermezzo - versione 2 (01:49)
20. Indagine - versione 3 (02:00)
21. Tensione quarta (02:38)
22. Tema quarto (02:06)
23. Meditazione prima - versione 2 (02:01)
24. Immobile - versione 5 (02:11)
25. Tema terzo - versione 2 (02:46)
26. Amore secondo - versione 3 (02:16)
27. Finale (03:12)

Total Duration: 02:15
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Released by

Retro Gold (regular release 2018)