“For having been able to tell stories of universal value with his music that from great cinema to television, from conducting to composition, have been able to enchant entire generations becoming living testimony of Italian genius and excellence in the world.” This is the motivation with which Maestro Ennio Morricone was awarded. The award for his career was presented by the President of the Senate Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, during the first 2020 appointment of the Senate and Culture review.
“After the many emotions that this project has given us over the past year,” Casellati said in his speech to the Senate, “there could not have been a better debut: the event is in fact a tribute to the extraordinary career of one of the greatest contemporary artists. Arranger, musician, composer, conductor, Morricone,” he emphasized, “has been able to make versatility his trademark like no other. Honoured throughout the world for his extraordinary ability to make audiences daydream with his music, he is considered a point of reference for entire generations of musicians: from pop to jazz, from classical music to rock. He has achieved international success by composing music for over 500 films and TV series, and is universally recognised as one of the greatest soundtrack composers of all time.”
The musician, who turned 91 in November, was moved: “I’m not supposed to speak and you know why? Because I’m very emotional,” he limited himself to saying amid applause from the audience.
Accompanied by the Roma Sinfonietta orchestra, the maestro conducted some pieces from the soundtracks of his most famous films, such as Deborah's theme from "Once Upon a Time in America" by Sergio Leone. Other pieces were performed by his son, Andrea Morricone, also a composer and director, such as "Nuovo cinema paradiso" by Giuseppe Tornatore and "Vittime di guerra" by Brian de Palma. The finale included the reading of an excerpt from "If This Is a Man" by Primo Levi and the musical accompaniment of Morricone and the orchestra.
At the end, the audience stood up for a very long applause.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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