PICCOLA RAPSODIA DELL'APE

In 1980 Le Orme released the follow up of "Florian". The formula is the same, a classical acoustic quartet. Germano Serafin (violin, charango, bouzuki, 12 strings guitar) is the fourth band' members since Tolo Marton left after recording "Smogmagica" (1975).

A collection of 8 short songs, for just 33 minutes. Not a memorable album, not at the same level of the previous one. More un-inspired than that, sometimes it appears to lack in imagination.

I think the only one that deserves to be appreciated more is the instrumental title track. An acoustic-baroque gem, with a remarkable vibraphone played by Michi De Rossi (or Giuseppe, as he used to be called at the time). The music is very interesting and manages to describe a little bee's flight. I'm not the first to notice a vague Gentle Giant's influence on this track. Violin and delicate cello are also played in good mixture.

The other tunes show the band approaching quickly to the pop music. Sadly "Florian" seems to be very far.

1.5 - 2 stars.

Yes, five stars. I simply adore it!

While earlier albums show LE ORME's masterity in composing great Symphonic Prog pieces for ELP-like trio, they never fall into bombastic category - LE ORME are Italians and they care for MELODIES first!!! This one is pure brilliance - melodies and emotions. No bombastic keyboards at all - acoustic guitars, violas and pianos...My favourite from them, along with recent "L'Infinito".The opener "Il treno" reminds of BEATLES' "Hello Goodbye" - great! "La mia bianca sposa" is another highlight - pretty memorable chorus and Aldo is stunning with his trembling voice..."Piccola rapsodia dell'ape" is an instrumental,very good - acoustic and pastoral,but partly wild!"Charango" is another step away from Prog,but it is amazing song - quirky and firing, humorous in mood. My favourite here is probably the closing "Buonanotte" - simple lullaby with AWESOME melodic chorus...very peaceful and calm piece, proving that LE ORME are more melodists than bombasters. Highly recommended, especially for those who uncapable to get the genius of "classical" albums - maybe, you should try this one like I did!

This is the second acoustic / classical "Le Orme" album in a row.

Actually, this one doesn't sound as classical as its predecessor ("Florian") if you would except the title track which, therefore, doesn't succeed in pleasing me. Chords, marimba & tutti quanti. Not my cup of tea. At all. Same sort of feeling (except the marimba) with "Fragile Conchiglia".

Popish accents are also in place here. And pretty unbearable ("Charango"). Press next.

This album also holds some good tracks to be honest. More in their subtle and delicate style : "Il Treno" is probably the best one to get here and "Raccogli le Nuvole" doesn't fall short. A very nice melody (even if the chorus is a bit weak).

These two songs were a good start for this album but the next pleasant moment I can point out is the sixth song "Fiori Di Luce". A good combination of a passionate and melodic song with an upbeat tempo during the middle part. Very nice.

The title of the closing number is rather explicit "Buona Notte" (good night). Yes, good night and have a nice sleep while listening to this dull song. If I do the total good musical moments from this very short album, I reach the fantastic total of almost .twelve minutes. Not really enough to deserve more than two stars.

The experiment with ''Florian'' with Le Orme flirting with classical music was rather succesful and so the band decided to move on in the same direction.Just a year after ''Florian'',the new album ''Piccola Rapsodia dell'Ape'' holds strong similarities with the previous work,the last album for the band on Phillips before their first break.

''Piccola rapsodia dell'ape'' is again a very gentle and pastoral release of Classical Music mixed with Acoustic Prog.Strong romantic passages,warm melodies all over the place and nice vocal work by Aldo Tagliapietra.This time Germano Serafin leans towards using more of his mandolin and leave aside his violin,thus adding to the album a heavy and lovely Meditterenean feeling.Pagliuca shines again on tracks like the eponymous one or ''Fragile conchiglia'' with his complicated Classical-influenced piano and the atmosphere becomes even more cinematic with the help of Michi Dei Rossi's vibraphone and glockenspiel.The album is actually carefully balanced between Classical and Acoustic vocal-based Music.The final result is very close to what the album title indicates,a small rhapsody full of smooth acoutic passages,harmonic vocal lines and classical references.

This would be unfortunately the end of Le Orme's best period.''Venerdi'' from 1982 on DDD without Serafin and produced by Roberto Colombo would send Le Orme to the SanRemo Festival but also to their first breakdown.They would reform in 1986 with the classic 1970-1975 line-up to perform a huge number of shows but the 1990 album ''Orme'' was again just horrible pop-rock.The band broke up again the same year,Pagliuca was gone for good and only the 1996 re-formation would show a turn towards a more progressive sound.Meanwhile Le Orme's last document from their early good years is a decent album and if you like ''Florian'',you should certainly go after it.

When Orme shortened their name and ditched their electronic equipment at the end of the 1970s, the effect was like a mild gust of unsullied air in an increasingly stale musical environment. It was a short-lived epiphany, lasting only a little more than a year. And by the time they recorded this 1980 companion piece to their gently unplugged 'Florian' the band was already diluting the acoustic purity of the earlier album, with more assertive percussion and the occasional electric bass guitar (not listed in the credits, but hard to miss).

So the new album was a compromise of sorts, between the classical chamber pieces of its predecessor and the exquisite RPI of the group's better-known masterpieces. The music was still attractively switched-off, but held all the melodic appeal of the best Orme balladry from the '70s, minus only the synthesizers. In an age of Arena Rock bombast and Neo Prog ascendancy, the simplicity of purpose and clarity of presentation was refreshing, precisely because it was so out of step with changing fashions.

The album doesn't rock, despite the emphatic momentum of songs like 'Il Treno', and the atypically forceful chorus of 'Raccogli le Nuvole'. But it rolls with a natural grace that hasn't aged in 35-plus years: the sound of classic (if no longer classical) Orme, stripped to its lyrical essence.

And when Aldo Tagliapietra sings the album's closing lullaby, he's bidding a wistful 'Buona Notte' to a decade of creative music making, the likes of which would not be heard again from this band for another fifteen years. Upcoming efforts would mark Orme as quintessential sellouts in a dumbed-down marketplace. But they at least ended the '70s on a welcome note of pristine benevolence.

Not since the twin punch of "Uoma di Pezza" and "Felona e Serona" in the early 1970s had these Italian giants exercised the same muscles for 2 successive albums, but apparently, after "Florian", they felt they still had another all acoustic album in them.

Now, "Piccolo Rapsodia Dell'Ape" is not by any means a clone of its predecessor even if the same instruments appear to have hidden out in the studio between sessions. It seems more rooted in the Italian tradition, though again spotlights a complex and brilliant chamber piece in the form of the title track. The first two songs, though, are more pop oriented, with "Raccogli Le Nuvole" being somewhat better thanks to the very chorus that seems overdone on the first few listens. I prefer the romantic "La Mia Sposa Bianca", which could have been on the wonderful "Storia o Leggenda" with a few amplifiers attached, and the equally soothing closing numbers, though nothing quite approaches the best on "Florian". Still, when you've got Aldo Tagliapietra in your corner, you have an unfair advantage, whatever the style or era.

Long before "unplugged" became a battle cry for all manner of mainstream artists, LE ORME showed how fresh original compositions could be the subject of not one but two acoustic recordings that, while not scaling their 1973 peak, are every bit as timeless.