Quartet Records, in collaboration with GDM, Universal Music Publishing Italy and EMI General Music Publishing, presents a revised, remastered reissue of the famous giallo score composed by Ennio Morricone in 1971 for LA CORTE NOTTE DELLE BAMBOLE DI VETRO (aka SHORT NIGHT OF THE CRYSTAL DOLLS) directed by Aldo Lado and starring Jean Sorel, Ingrid Thulin, Barbara Bach and Mario Adorf.
Considered one of the best and most consistent giallos, the film is about journalist Gregory Moore (Sorel), whose corpse is found in a Prague square and taken to the local morgue. But Moore’s spirit is alive, trapped inside his dead body and desperately remembering the disappearance of his beautiful girlfriend, who is linked to a terrifying conspiracy of depravity. Can a reporter with no visible signs of life solve this perverse puzzle before his existence ends?
Morricone’s thriller scores remain some of his most distinctive and original works. As demonstrated in his scores for Dario Argento’s efforts in the genre, Morricone’s uncanny ability to combine lyricism, unbridled avant-garde experimentation and stylish elegance was his most significant contribution to the category. LA CORTA NOTTE DELLE BAMBOLE DI VETRO shows Morricone once again embracing the sophisticated avant-garde sound while beginning his score with a haunting tune performed by Edda Dell’Orso heard over the film’s main titles. The waltz theme has a timeless quality, providing a disturbing and disarming melody for the film.
Morricone prepared a vinyl album to coincide with the film’s release in 1971, but despite the success of the film, the album was aborted and only the main theme from LA CORTA NOTTE DELLE BAMBOLE DI VETRO was released on the RCA compilation “I Film Della Violenza” in 1975. It was not until 1998 that the Screen Trax label in Italy released a CD with a selection of 14 cues personally chosen by the composer. That selection was expanded in 2009 on a Digitmovies CD, and quickly sold out.
This new Quartet release has been completely remastered by Chris Malone from original master tapes, giving a new generation of avid collectors the chance to hear this score by the Roman maestro. Supervised by Claudio Fuiano, the package includes an essay by film music writer Miguel Angel Ordóñez.
