SIEGFRIED, IL DRAGO E ALTRE STORIE (2015 VERSION)

I confess, I'm writing this the very same day that I received the package of promo CD's from Italy's Black Widow (some hours ago), and I just had to return here to tell you how positively impressed I am by this release. I simply love it! Hopefully my infatuaton with the music is not a flash in the pan, so to speak, but actually I'm pretty certain that I will enjoy it for years to come and it will eventually become one of my personal classics in the RPI subgenre.

From the leaflet: "In 1976 ERRATA CORRIGE was a band made of four friends who enjoyed playing together, but who had other life-choices ahead. Before breaking up we decided to record what we had composed up to that point. (...) The vinyl became one of the most prized and covetewd rarities of Italian and European Prog. Now, almost 40 years on, those four friends have met up again at the studio and they have given new life to those 5 original songs, recording the way budget, experience and technical considerations had not permitted at the time (...) with the help of excellent professional players for the parts originally intended for French horn, oboe, sax, trumpet and cello."

Needless to say I'm not familiar with the original, which by the way is also re-released by Black Widow. No doubt it may have aged beautifully with the imperfect production and all, but I'd be extremely surprised to hear anyone blaming this new version for ripping down the spirit or sounding too clinical or whatever. This is pastoral, mellow, romantic, acoustically oriented RPI at its very finest. Comparable to the likes of CELESTE, PIERROT LUNAIRE and APOTEOSI. The British influences must have included the pastoral sides of early KING CRIMSON and GENESIS, maybe CAMEL too. Those who prefer the edgier and heavier end of RPI will probably find this work a bit too lame and soft.

For me however the sound blending acoustic and electronic instruments is truly beautiful, and the elegant vocal harmonies by all four members are faultless despite the fact that these men are over sixty now. And the melodies, ah! A big AAAH! It's a pity that the lyrics are not printed and translated in English in the leaflet. Siegfried is a hero in ancient Germanic folklore, (and il drago is naturally a dragon, right?) and I presume the rest of "altre storie" deal with Medieval stories too.

The stylish digipak set includes pictures of the musicians in the inner fold, plus a DVD of all five tracks being played in the studio. The camera work and editing are very good (I only wondered why the close-up shots of the keyboard misses the playing fingers by an inch or two most of the time...) and the members share few brief comments in between the tracks, with English subtitles. As the cherry on the top the DVD includes an Italian-language performance of 'Cadence and Cascade', the lovely acoustic tune from KING CRIMSON's second album, originally sung by Gordon Haskell.

My rating is an easy choice. I wouldn't hesitate to speak of a masterpiece. Thank you.