Il gattopardo

Created in 1963, the film classic Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) by Luchino Visconti is a social drama set at the time of the Italian Risorgimento and told in sumptuous images. For the music of this classic featuring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, Visconti could have found no better musical partner than the Italian composer Nino Rota who, three years earlier, had written the film music of Rocco e i suoi fratelli.

Il Gattopardo was a special challenge to Rota because of the contrasts between the grand domestic scenes and the civil war sequences. But his extraordinary talent for putting every subtle difference in atmosphere into melodies laid the foundations for one of the most brilliant film scores ever written. Perfect timing is combined in a unique way with great dramatic sound interwoven with original dances by Giuseppe Verdi written just before the time in which the film is set.

For the concert hall, Rota made a large-scale dance suite which is virtually a symphony, appealling to both musicians and listeners in its formal unity, but above all in its pure tonal beauty.