Ennio Morricone

LP, 140-gram black vinyl, limited edition of 300. Built from three episodes, Stato Interessante turns on the experiences of women facing pregnancy and abortion in an Italy on the edge of profound change, its debate over reproductive rights reaching a peak in the months before the 1978 law. Nasca, working from a script co-written with Maurizio Costanzo, sets intimate character study against broader social observation, with a cast that includes Janet Agren, Monica Guerritore, Duilio Del Prete and Turi Ferro.

Ennio Morricone answered it with a lyrical, emotionally nuanced score in his mature style, far removed from the experimental edge of much of his work in these same years. Delicate orchestral writing, graceful thematic development and a deep sense of intimacy carry the music across themes like Per Annabella, Mezza Luce and Controluce, while the recurring È mejo de morì che restà qui appears in both instrumental and Roman-dialect vocal forms. Restraint is the keynote throughout, the writing catching the hopes and uncertainties of the film's protagonists without ever overstating them.

Less familiar than the celebrated soundtracks, the score sits among Morricone's finest dramatic writing of the decade and now reaches vinyl for the first time. Supervised by Claudio Fuiano, presented from the best available stereo sources and mastered by Chris Malone, pressed on 140-gram black vinyl by Quartet Records. On vinyl at last, in a side-long selection from the score. Limited to 300 copies and not to be missed.

First-ever vinyl edition. Supervised by Claudio Fuiano from the best available stereo sources; mastered by Chris Malone.