Romitelli's Bad Trip

[not edward]

According to the index and the search, we don't have a Romitelli thread yet, so I figured I'd start one for this fascinating figure whose sometimes disorienting work blended spectralism with the more psychedelic elements of contemporary popular musics. It seems to me that interest in Romitelli's music has grown rather than faded since his death, and perhaps that's a sign that it's destined to last.

In the WAYLT thread, Bruce posted a link to a new release on the Tzadik label that looks very interesting:

[asin]B008645Y0S[/asin]

Amazon doesn't have a track listing, but according to Tzadik's website, it's:

1.   Amok Koma
2.   Domeniche Alla Periferia Dell'impero
3.   La Sabbia Del Tempo
4.   Nell'alto Dei Giorni Immobili
5.   Blood On The Floor, Painting

(Source: http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=8087).


Also coming out this summer is a third Romitelli disc from the Belgian Cypres label. Unfortunately it does entirely duplicate repertoire with the new Tzadik recording and the Stradivarius disc of orchestral music, but it'll be good to have alternative views of these works:

1. Amok Koma
2. Flowing down too slow
3. Domeniche alla periferia dell'impero
4. Nell'alto dei giorni immobili
5. The Nameless City

(Source: http://www.cypres-records.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=215&lang=en&option=com_phpshop&Itemid=6).

[bhodges]

Edward, thanks for starting this thread. And very happy to know of the new Cypres recording. Even if it duplicates some of the rep on the Tzadik disc, Romitelli's work is worth hearing by different interpreters. (And I don't know Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles at all, nor the conductor, Dessay.)

The Talea Ensemble basically introduced me to his work; in the last few years, they performed Professor Bad Trip and An Index of Metals at the Bang on a Can marathon (roughly mid-June every year, held in the World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan). Even in the woeful acoustic (think "giant glass atrium"), if you sit close to the stage the sound is not bad. But I think the group plans to repeat either or both of these in a better-sounding venue.

Romitelli isn't for every day (OK, who is?) but I find his unusual sound world completely fascinating. And if at times what you're hearing sounds improvised, if you look at a page of one of his scores, the precision in notating what he wants is immediately apparent.

--Bruce

[not edward]

Edward, thanks for starting this thread. And very happy to know of the new Cypres recording. Even if it duplicates some of the rep on the Tzadik disc, Romitelli's work is worth hearing by different interpreters. (And I don't know Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles at all, nor the conductor, Dessay.)

The Talea Ensemble basically introduced me to his work; in the last few years, they performed Professor Bad Trip and An Index of Metals at the Bang on a Can marathon (roughly mid-June every year, held in the World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan). Even in the woeful acoustic (think "giant glass atrium"), if you sit close to the stage the sound is not bad. But I think the group plans to repeat either or both of these in a better-sounding venue.

Romitelli isn't for every day (OK, who is?) but I find his unusual sound world completely fascinating. And if at times what you're hearing sounds improvised, if you look at a page of one of his scores, the precision in notating what he wants is immediately apparent.

--Bruce

I could believe the new Cypres disc will be worth having, even for those who have the Stradivarius disc with the excellent Peter Rundel, amongst others. Dessy did a good job with a regional Belgian orchestra of Scelsi's works for large string ensemble at a time when the composer badly needed the advocacy (he also conducted the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles in the premiere of Romitelli's Flowing down too slow

It doesn't surprise me that the scores are very detailed; it would not be surprising if some of Grisey's thoroughness rubbed off on Romitelli while he was studying with the Frenchman (to me, Grisey is one of very few influences that are clear in Romitelli's work; Vivier also seems close to the spirit of the works for strings in particular). But of course Romitelli took off in a very distinct direction from that particular starting point.

Looking at the work list for Romitelli at IRCAM (http://brahms.ircam.fr/fausto-romitelli#work_by_date), it seems like with these new releases the majority of his published work is now out on CD. A couple of useful addenda of otherwise unrecorded works:

The early (1992-93) Mediterraneo I & II are on one of Stradivarius' Musica Milano Festival live CDs:

[asin]B003L6DKYI[/asin]

and the Ensemble Phoenix Basel have recorded Cupio dissolvi, though I'm not sure how much distribution that CD has. (There's a probably-not-very-legit MP3 of the premiere of that work to be found at http://classical-music-online.net/en/composer/Romitelli/6018, for those who like internet recordings of dubious provenance, along with one of the early guitar work Simmetrie d'oggetti, as well as more easily found material.)

[snyprrr]

I know that Aperghis's Opera Avis le tempete is dedicated to him. Perhaps the nervous energy is similar? I've only heard brief YT snippets, will redo.

[snyprrr]

I could believe the new Cypres disc will be worth having, even for those who have the Stradivarius disc with the excellent Peter Rundel, amongst others. Dessy did a good job with a regional Belgian orchestra of Scelsi's works for large string ensemble at a time when the composer badly needed the advocacy (he also conducted the Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles in the premiere of Romitelli's Flowing down too slow

It doesn't surprise me that the scores are very detailed; it would not be surprising if some of Grisey's thoroughness rubbed off on Romitelli while he was studying with the Frenchman (to me, Grisey is one of very few influences that are clear in Romitelli's work; Vivier also seems close to the spirit of the works for strings in particular). But of course Romitelli took off in a very distinct direction from that particular starting point.

Looking at the work list for Romitelli at IRCAM (http://brahms.ircam.fr/fausto-romitelli#work_by_date), it seems like with these new releases the majority of his published work is now out on CD. A couple of useful addenda of otherwise unrecorded works:

The early (1992-93) Mediterraneo I & II are on one of Stradivarius' Musica Milano Festival live CDs:

[asin]B003L6DKYI[/asin]

and the Ensemble Phoenix Basel have recorded Cupio dissolvi, though I'm not sure how much distribution that CD has. (There's a probably-not-very-legit MP3 of the premiere of that work to be found at http://classical-music-online.net/en/composer/Romitelli/6018, for those who like internet recordings of dubious provenance, along with one of the early guitar work Simmetrie d'oggetti, as well as more easily found material.)

I got the pictured disc, my first Romitelli, nicely "spectral-impressionist"- lots of dribbling LSD moments- but not as hallucinatory as some things I've heard by him.

[San Antone]

Some more clips ~

Flowing down too slow (2001)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPGU3npaMjM

Hellucination 1: Drowningirl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acMuoUkRoFY

The Poppy in the Cloud (1999)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcSsMEnpcMM

Amok Koma (for ensemble and electronics)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QhOL5AuBnk

[CRCulver]

Romitelli's video opera An Index of Metals will be performed in Helsinki in April as part of the audiovisual AAVE Festival. Entrance is free!

[bhodges]

Just published today in Van Magazine, a nice appreciation of the work of Romitelli by composer William Dougherty, who compiled interviews with friends and associates of the composer.

https://van-magazine.com/mag/fausto-romitelli/

--Bruce

[Mandryka]

Just published today in Van Magazine, a nice appreciation of the work of Romitelli by composer William Dougherty, who compiled interviews with friends and associates of the composer.

https://van-magazine.com/mag/fausto-romitelli/

--Bruce

Thanks for this. It's getting clearer that Donatoni is an important composer -- I know that Jo Kondo was very impressed with his music and now I learn that Fausto Romitelli was too.

Interesting comment from Luisa Vinci "Because he was a man who considered himself a composer, there was a certain level of narcissism there. I think every composer must have some to survive—you must believe in yourself, because there is a lot of competition." All the more reason not to be a composer in the traditional classical music sense, I think.

The review here of Prof Bad Trip by scarecrow ends with something pretty eloquent

Romitelli reminds me of Mozart. Both have music, quite focused with energy and power sources to sustain the simplest of means with,shape, direction, attitude, arrogance,get gentleness, what the late Anne Dufourmantelle wrote in her late essays, how love,tenderness, care, empathy is a neglected forgotten power within the human spirit that creates what we need, as this music. You needn't be on a "bad trip"---- to trip thru this music on power/ elegance simultaneously...

https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Bad-Trip-Musique-dEnsemble/dp/B017DV2PEW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZJ04U7HHZEFC&keywords=fausto+bad+trip&qid=1644575361&sprefix=fausto+bad+trip%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1#customerReviews

[not edward]

Just published today in Van Magazine, a nice appreciation of the work of Romitelli by composer William Dougherty, who compiled interviews with friends and associates of the composer.

https://van-magazine.com/mag/fausto-romitelli/

--Bruce

Thanks for this; it's good to have these perspectives on the composer, though it reads as if he might have been rather tiresome to be around!

I was lucky enough to catch a live performance of Professor Bad Trip a few years ago in Toronto, and it was definitely one of the highlights of that year for me.

[brewski]

In August, the TIME:SPANS Festival in New York opens with Romitelli's Professor Bad Trip, performed by Ensemble Signal. The program also includes Steve Reich's Radio Rewrite (2012).

Information here.

-Bruce

[CRCulver]

Glad to see Romitelli getting performed. I've felt a little worried about his legacy: while at his death in 2004 his combination of classical modernism and rock influence seemed fresh and accessible, rock now has faded from the common culture, and is occasionally associated with ridiculous old people or even called political reactionary.

Also, in an age of HD video, I wonder if the low-res video of An Index of Metals bothers audiences. Those are visuals that would look a lot different if they had been shot just five years later.