The ancestral magic of strings and the breath of the bellows for Ennio Morricone: Videos, Photos

Ennio Morricone is an institution of world music, not only a source of pride for Italy, but an iconic figure for musicians around the globe.

There have been many tributes to the late maestro, with different formations, but in this case it is the French duo composed of Vincent Beer-Demander (mandolin, voice in A la Calabrese) and Grégory Daltin (accordion) who pay him warm homage with a new recording entitled Nell’Italia di Ennio Morricone.

The tracklist consists of fifteen songs: Viaggio, Variazioni da un Tema Sereno, Regalo di Nozze, Hundred Yark Dash, La Storia Vera della Signora delle Camelie (Preludio), Serenata Passacaglia, Canone Inverso and Once Upon a Time in the West are milestones born from Morricone’s inspired and fertile compositional vein, while The Godfather (Nino Rota-Christian Gaubert), A la Calabrese – Hommage à Ennio Morricone (François Rossé), Umoresca (Richard Galliano), Tango Cromatico per il Maestro – Hommage à Ennio Morricone (Régis Campo), Santo Luca (Grégory Daltin), Valse di Roma (Claude Salmieri) and Preludio e Danza – In Memoriam Ennio Morricone (Vincent Beer-Demander) complete the album.

This recording is enriched by two excellent guests: Claude Salmieri (piano in Valse di Roma, percussion in A la Calabrese), a pianist, drummer, percussionist, composer and arranger from France of international standing, and Petra Magoni (voice in Once Upon a Time in the West), one of the most imaginative, eclectic and communicative Italian singers of the last twenty years.

With a genuine, fluid phrasing, in possession of an impeccable technique combined with a dazzling expressiveness, Vincent Beer-Demander is one of the most renowned mandolinists in the world. Over the course of his career he has formed numerous prestigious collaborations alongside musicians such as Vladimir Cosma, Richard Galliano, Lalo Schiffrin, Claude Bolling, Francis Lai, Ricardo Sandoval, Leo Brower, Hamilton de Holanda, just to name a few. Thanks to his brilliant talent he performs all over the world, in countries such as Italy, Germany, the United States, Japan, Colombia, China, Israel, Portugal, Russia, England, Hungary and more.

Coming to his discography, among the various productions, Nell’Italia di Ennio Morricone is a recently released album. Grégory Daltin is one of the most appreciated accordionists at an international level. His touch, the management of dynamics, the timbre colors and the fervent harmonic imagination represent the particular signs of his artistic identity card.

During his professional career he treads the stage and shares the recording studio with many artists of national and international rank such as Michel Godard, Richard Galliano, Paolo Fresu, Marco Bardoscia, Didier Labbé, Michel Becquet, Daniel Lassalle, Stéphane Labeyrie, Vladimir Cosma, Jean-Claude Petit, Jean-Claude Vannier and many others. His qualities lead him to hold concerts in all continents, in countries such as Spain, Italy, Belgium, South Africa, Madagascar, French Guiana, Morocco, Turkey, Reunion Island, Senegal, Japan.

Belgium, South Africa, Madagascar, French Guyana, Morocco, Turkey, Reunion Island, Senegal, Japan. Among his twenty or so albums, Nell’Italia di Ennio Morricone sees him as co-leader together with Vincent Beer-Demander.

The tense mood of Regalo di Nozze creates a state of suspense, especially thanks to the inebriating harmonic asperities chiseled by the mandolinist and the accordionist, brilliant also in some crescendos and decrescendos that significantly raise the temperature measured by the emotional thermometer.

Here Beer-Demander and Daltin dialogue conceiving dynamics of fine workmanship and particularly intriguing dissonances. The Godfather represents a wonderful example of the narrative and descriptive skills of Vincent Beer-Demander and Grégory Daltin, authors of some extremely interesting harmonic substitutions, caressing in their interpretation.

The impact of A la Calabrese is devastating, especially on a sound level. Here the accordionist and the mandolinist, urged on by the stimulating rhythmic blanket woven on the percussions by Claude Salmieri, dialogue densely, giving life to electrifying melodic, harmonic and timbric pictures, here too all enriched by progressions, chromaticisms and vibrant harmonic angularities.

The climate of Umoresca is exotic, emphasized by the strings of Beer-Demander and the bellows of Daltin. In this composition, on the intense melodic lines built by the mandolinist, the accordionist gives life to an orchestral comping, full of nuances of timbre and notable excursions in dynamics.

In Santo Luca you can breathe a Mediterranean atmosphere. The speech of both is animated by a palpable communicative fire, always supported by total control of their instrument. Valse di Roma is a poignant composition, wrapped in a sense of melancholy, an elegiac vein amplified in a particular way by the soulful brushstrokes of Grégory Daltin and the touching strings of Vincent Beer-Demander.

Prelude and Dance – In Memoriam Ennio Morricone is a piece immersed in a state of suspense underlined by the symbiosis of the duo, which creates harmonic paintings imbued with pathos. Once Upon a Time in the West, a precious gem of the unforgettable Ennio Morricone, is interpreted by Petra Magoni in a personal, singular way.

She brilliantly exploits dynamics and draws on her rich palette of timbres, through which she creates soundscapes of great expressive depth. Nell’Italia di Ennio Morricone is a true portrait dedicated to the master.

An act of love lived and manifested with grace, candor of soul, high aesthetic sense and imaginative spirit. A tapestry of sounds and notes through which to lay bare one’s often changing state of mind. A tribute, adorned with the luminous arrangements of Vincent Beer-Demander and Grégory Daltin, that leaves a tangible mark.