I must admit I get restless when I start working on a project, but I also grow sentimentally attached to projects I’m involved with.
After the main work on the “Italian Style on the Silver Screen” exhibition came to an end, I just felt there was some kind of other film and fashion connection that hadn’t been tackled in this event, the one with music.
Luckily Italian label Kutmusic came to my rescue and, inspired by the contents of the exhibition, we came up with a mini-album, “La Dolce Vita Souvenir”, a tribute to Federico Fellini’s film.
“Fashions passed him by without leaving a trace,” film critic Claudio Fava once stated about Fellini. The style of Fellini’s characters is indeed simply immortal, it leaves any temporal boundary behind, while words borrowed from his films – paparazzi, dolce vita, amarcord, vitelloni – are officially part of the Italian language.
The legendary shots of Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni in the Trevi Fountain changed forever the history of Italian cinema. The black satin dress donned by Ekberg was actually inspired by Jean Louis’ black satin strapless gown for Rita Hayworth in Gilda (the latter was based on the portrait of Mrs. X by John Singer Sargent).
The film caused a huge debate when it was first released and the case even arrived in the Parliament where conservative MPs asked to withdraw it from circulation as it offended the virtues and integrity of the respectable citizens of Rome. Audiences loved it though and Fellini’s film won the Golden Palm at Cannes and an Oscar for Best Costume Design.
The album features music by Nino Rota conducted by Franco Ferrara, Perez Prado's "Patricia" and "Why Wait", samples from the film, legendary track "Cadillac", later covered by Combustible Edison, and a previously unreleased track, Little Richard's "Ready Teddy" performed in the film by the Campanino and Adriano Celentano.
"La Dolce Vita Souvenir" is out now and available from Amazon. To celebrate the album release, Irenebrination will give away a free copy of the album to the first five readers who will drop me an email with "La Dolce Vita Souvenir" in the subject.
Special thanks go to the Kutmusic team who turned the project into reality in no time. To preview the album, click on the tracks on the following widget. Enjoy the music!
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