Album artwork courtesy of the label
On the turntable
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CinemaNo. 11 of the Continental 100
La dolce vita
Nino Rota · 1960
Rome at three in the morning, scored by a man who found the whole thing very funny.
Why it matters
Rota's genius was tone: circus brass and cocktail piano used to describe a society that has stopped taking itself seriously and has not yet noticed. It is party music with something faintly sad underneath, which is a rarer trick than it sounds.
The Continental setting
The last hour of a dinner party that has gone on considerably longer than planned.
Start here
- 01La dolce vita (Finale)
- 02Notturno
- 03Canzonetta
The soundtrack to the myth of the Italian night.
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