From the Universal Music website:
THE STORY OF ‘FOCUS’
Ennio Morricone and Dulce Pontes first met in 1995 when she sang A Brisa do Coração, written by Francesco De Melis and Emma Scoles, on his soundtrack for the film Sostiene Pereira with Marcello Mastroianni. “It was amazing to work with him,” she recalls. “And I learned so much. He told me: ‘One day I would love to make a record with you.’ And I thought that was ecstasy… Then he said we must wait until I was at least 30 years old!” Having now passed that landmark, Pontes adds: “He was right because I needed the experience of life to get inside the music, to understand it completely; you can only express pain if you’ve felt pain.” Eight years later, in the spring of 2003, they were finally reunited in Morricone’s home city of Rome to record Focus: a unique collaboration between two of the most respected artists in their fields.
The idea for the album came from Francesco De Melis. The Italian music producer’s vision was to bring a new dimension to Morricone’s music by adding lyrics to some of his favorite compositions. The next step was to invite Portugal’s acclaimed fado singer Dulce Pontes to breathe vocal life into them for the first time. Meanwhile, Morricone returned to his Rome studio to rearrange and reorchestrate the music, and wrote five entirely new compositions especially for Pontes. The resulting collaboration contains pieces from every phase of Morricone’s extraordinary 40-year career of composing almost 500 film scores. They range from the familiar themes of film classics such as Once Upon A Time In The West (1969), The Mission (1986) and Cinema Paradiso (1988), to some of the lesser-known and lesser-seen pictures for which he composed scores. These span the breadth of his colossal career, from Maddalena (1971), through Sacco And Vanzetti (1975), for which folk legend Joan Baez wrote the lyric, to the as-yet unreleased La Luz Prodigiosa (2003), with lyrics taken from the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca. Pontes herself wrote the lyric to Renascer, originally composed by Morricone for the TV film Moses (1996) and now reinvented as an exuberant hymn to Portuguese identity. She also contributed lyrics to Nosso Mar and Voo: one of five new pieces Morricone has composed for Focus. Another new composition, Amália Por Amor, pays tribute to Pontes’ musical inspiration, the legendary fado singer Amália Rodrigues, with a lyric by the Portuguese poet João Mendonça. Other lyricists on the album include Francesco De Melis, José Mário Branco, Mark Niedzwiedz, Carlos Vargas, Phil Galdston, Audry Stainton, Maria Travia, Carlo Nistri and José Medeiros. Dulce demonstrates her chameleon qualities by singing not only in several styles, but in four languages: Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and English. “That was very important because this is a record of many languages as well, musically speaking,” she explains. “The album also speaks in a universal language.” Morricone says of his five new compositions: “I wrote them with Dulce’s voice in mind. I wanted to give an intentional rhythm to these new pieces - let’s call it an Iberian rhythm - because I wanted Dulce to be able to express her vocal range, but also keep the connotations of the Portuguese fado. In that way she keeps her personality. However, she has qualities on this record which are so chameleon-like, so complete, so incredibly varied, that I have to say she touches on all the aspects of singing, all ways of singing.” He adds: “I think this record is one of the most important things I have ever done with a singer. I already knew that the final product would be a success but I didn’t think it would be so extraordinary. I put all my powers into this CD. I have faith in its success - I feel that it deserves it.” Pontes returns the compliment, describing the project as “a labour of love” for her, following a lengthy period of enforced inactivity after the birth of her first child in February 2002. “For me Ennio Morricone represents the expression of symphonic music of this century,” she says. “Being with him as a person and having the opportunity to work with him directly was a privilege and a dream come true. I love him like a father, a grandfather or a brother. And I know that he feels the same way.”
Eis o alinhamento completo:
Other references:
Vozes Femininas Portuguesas: Dulce Pontes
Em 2003, foi editado "FOCUS", um álbum que reúne a voz maravilhosa de Dulce Pontes à música de ninguém menos que Ennio Morricone, o grande compositor do cinema italiano e mundial. O resultado é belíssimo, com Dulce Pontes viajando por melodias compostas por Morricone para filmes como "Cinema Paradiso" e "A Missão" em letras escritas especialmente para este projeto no qual a intérprete canta em português e inglês.
Go back
This page hosted by
Get your own
Free Home Page