Nico
Fidenco was interviewed over the phone by
John Mansell. This interview was shared by John to the
Movie Music Italiano mailing list (MMI) and he granted me permission
to post it here. Thanks John!
Please note that there is a book in
progress with this and many other interviews. When there is
any information on the release of this book I will place it
here. Now, on to the show!
An
Interview to the Composer
(c) 2001/2002 John Mansell
Nico Fidenco was born in Rome on January 24th 1933. The composer
received no formal musical education, in fact for the most part he was self
taught.
I simply learnt about music by listening to it, also I was
helped by being close to and with musicians and singers. I
listened, watched and took note. By doing this I was able to
pick things up.
Fidenco started out as a singer, I asked him why he changed direction in his musical career.
When I was singing I did a few cover versions of movie songs:
Exodus, Moon River, Suzie Wong and What A Sky, for example.
These recordings were very popular in Italy, and my interest
in movie grew out of this, so I decided to try and write some
material myself. Cinema has always attracted me, even as a
child, and to be a part of the cinema world, was like a dream
come true. I'm still learning now though, last year I attended
a course at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografa in Rome.
What was the first score for a movie that the composer was involved on ?
It will probably not be a surprise
when I tell you it was a Western, a Spanish-Italian
co-production entitled In The Shadow Of The Colt, it was a
very low budget film, nothing like the films of Leone, but
nevertheless it was popular in Italy and Spain of course. Well
I don't think it got released anywhere else, so I'm glad it
was popular in these two countries, the theme was recorded on
a 45 rpm record and to my surprise, sold over ten thousand
copies in Italy, which at that time was the early 1960's was
very good indeed.
The composer at times used the choir of Allessandro Alessandroni's
IL CANTORI MODERNI
on his soundtracks, what was it like working with Alessandroni ?
I never actually worked with him in
the sense of writing anything together, but yes, I did have
him and his excellent choir perform on some of my scores. If I
remember correctly John Il Bastardo, Dynamite Jim and two of
the Emmanuelle soundtracks were performed by them, and Ringo
Il Texican I think. It was all such a long time ago, but
Alessandroni is a wonderful person. He is a talented
performer, with his guitar and whistle, and also a gifted and
very underrated composer. Nora Orlandi would also conduct her
choir on some of my scores, things like El Che Guevara I
think, she also is very good. Alessandroni was and still is a
very good friend of Giacamo Dell Orso, who conducted most of
my soundtracks. His wife Edda has an exquisite voice, and is
responsible for a lot of work on Morricone soundtracks, as I'm
sure you know. Giacamo would take my musical sketches and turn
them into something really special. He is a skilled
orchestrator and an excellent conductor.
Did Giacamo ever compose any scores for film ?
Yes, I think he did a few. Two of his
most well known are for movies about Caligula, which I think
were a little risque.
Were there any composers or soloists that the composer found interesting within the film
music industry, or maybe some that were no longer living ?
Oh yes, Henry Mancini. I think he was
a big influence upon me. His music is so easy going and full
of melody, also Dimitri Tiomkin, Ennio Morricone. Morricone is
an inspiration to us all.
How long had the composer been associated with Giacamo dell Orso?"
It must have been 35 years or more
now, we still see each other and occasionally do musical
things together, but I rarely write for cinema now, and spend
a lot of time performing recitals on piano in Italy and also
in South America.
Did the composer consider that the music he wrote for movies during the 60's and
70's had stood the test of time, and did he feel that the music that he wrote for
Italian Westerns was good, I asked this because a number of Italian composers refuse to talk about their
spaghetti western period ?
I do consider the music I provided
for these movies to be good, and yes it still has a certain
something to it now, but that is my opinion. I know that many
Italian Westerns that I thought were great during the 1970's
etc. are for me very hard to sit through now. Times change and
so do tastes and styles. It's all down to the individual, I
think.
Did the composer have a favourite score of his own ?
Yes, I would have to say Black
Emmanuelle. I also consider that to be my best movie score, or
at least my most memorable.
What about a favourite that is by another composer ?
Well I would have to say anything by
Mancini.
As a singer did the composer like to try and include a song on his soundtracks ?
Not always, only when it really
called for it, or if the director or producer asked for one,
but no it's not something out of my way to do.
Where did the composer get his inspiration from ?
That's a difficult question.
Sometimes my inspiration come from reading the script. Other
times from a situation in the film, or even from a character
in the story. It is different each time.
During the 1960's and 70's many Italian composers wrote under aliases, did maestro
Fidenco do this at any time ?
No, there was no need for this. I
thought if I was not happy to write under my own name then I
would have not have written the music in the first place. The
music I wrote for film I was proud of so I wanted my name on
the credits.
Did he have any thoughts about the way in which he is represented on compact
disc, was there enough of his music being released?
No, never enough (laughs).
And what of the future ?
I never look to the future, I live
for today, never look further than tomorrow, and then we
cannot be disappointed.
My thanks to Nico Fidenco
John Mansell © 2001/2002
Nico
Fidenco
- A Selective Filmography
- Black Emmanuelle
- Bury Them Deep
- John Il Bastardo
- Canibal Holocaust
- In The Shadow of the Colt
- Dynamite Jim
- Ringo the Texican
|
