L'ultima neve di primavera. L'albero dalle foglie rosa. Bianchi cavalli d'agosto

Digitmovies is very glad to release for the very first time - complete and in full stereo - on a double CD set the three famous OST by Franco Micalizzi for the movies "L'ultima neve di primavera","L'albero dalle foglie rosa" and "Bianchi cavalli d'agosto". These three movies were huge crowd-pleasers during the first half of the '70s, particularly for their scores and the main themes by M°Micalizzi which became incredible record and radio hits. All three movies featured Renato Cestiè (born in 1963), then a red-haired kid with freckles, in the leading roles. "L'ultima neve di primavera" (aka "Last snows of spring", "Der letzte Schnee des Frühlings", "La ùltima nieve de primavera", "Les dernières neiges de Printemps", "A ùltima neve da Primavera") was directed in 1973 by Raimondo Del Balzo starring Bekim Fehmiu, Agostina Belli and Renato Cestiè. The plot: After the death of his mother, the little Luca (Cestiè) does not accept the relationship of his father with another woman and he reproaches him with paying too much attention to his job. Then the man takes his son along for skiing and after having a bad fall the boy is diagnosed to be ill of leukaemia. The disease worsens and Luca dies between his father's arms, but not before telling him that it had been the happiest time of his life. "L'albero dalle foglie rosa" (aka "The Tree with pink leaves" - "La separación") was directed in 1974 by Armando Nannuzzi starring John Richardson, Angela Goodwin, Renato Cestiè, Marisa Merlini, Rina Morelli, Fabrizio Jovine and Carmen Scarpitta. The plot: Little Marco (Cestiè) adores his parents and he suffers a lot when the couple does split. When the kid runs away from home to elude boarding-school, he is run over by a car. While his parents live through hours of full despair, Marco drags himself under a tree with pink leaves - a symbol of the missing affection - , where he dies. The third and last of the "melodramas" or "weepy" movies trilogy (as they were ironically called by the critics in those days) is "Bianchi cavalli d'agosto" (aka "White horses of summer") directed in 1975 by Raimondo Del Balzo and starring Frederick Stafford, Jean Seberg, Renato Cestiè, Antonino Faa di Bruno, Alberto Terracina, Ciccio Ingrassia. The plot: An american couple in a crisis leaves for a vacation in Italy with their little son Bunny (Cestiè). Continous loneliness and sadness make life miserable for the child whose only friends are his dog Clipper and Peppino, a very young attendant working in the hotel where the kid stays with his parents. One day the kid falls from the cliff and badly injures himself. Through this tragic incident his parents become reconciled forever. In those days RCA in Italy did issue a 33 rpm LP (TBL 1-1018) and a 45 rpm single (OC 42), and the albums were reissued in Japan on KING (FML- 42). From "L'albero dalle foglie rosa" Cinevox did release a 33 rpm album (MDF 33/80) as well as a 45 rpm single (MDF 056) which was later re-issued in Spain on RCA (Cinematres NL 33218). From "Bianchi cavalli d'agosto" only a 45 rpm single had been issued by RCA (TBBO 1092). This CD project which we have wanted to do for such a long time has been realized in close collaboration with M° Micalizzi who proved to be always very cooperative in every phase of the production. The original album master tapes and the complete recording session elements in full stereo could be used which have been preserved in very good condition in the RCA archives. From "L'ultima neve di primavera" we have discovered ten unreleased tracks besides the original LP album material, from "L'albero dalle foglie rosa" only the album master has been found in the Cinevox archives, but according to the composer's memory there was not much more music than the material which had already been selected for the LP album. With "Bianchi cavalli d'agosto" we have made a truly amazing discovery : We have indeed found an album mock-up with 12 selections (prepared at the time of the film's release for the promotional SP series of RCA) which had never been released in 1975 so that only the RC 45 rpm single did come out in those days. Besides these album selections we have also added seven bonus tracks. With a total of 52 tracks and a duration close to 140 minutes, the music by Franco Micalizzi is pure joy for the ears with a huge amount of orchestral music material where romantic themes are alternated with sad and dramatic ones, cheerful themes with others in a dance-floor style with some winks to lounge and latin American genres. M° Micalizzi did also have such fabulous soloists at his disposition as Oscar Valdambrini (flugelhorn), Vincenzo Restuccia (percussions), Mario Gangi (guitar), and vocal performers like Irio De Paula, Giovanna Marinuzzi (daughter of Gino Marinuzzi Jr.) and the golden voice of the Italian Cinema Edda Dell'Orso. With this double CD set, which is the result of a long and passionate production history, we can finally rescue and preserve with digitally restored and remastered sound three very good scores of the Italian Silver Age and want it to be a sincere and devoted tribute to the film music of M°Franco Micalizzi.