ANTICO TEATRO DA CAMERA

Antico Teatro Da Camera is one of the most great Prog albums from a soloist. Published after D'Errico died this is a great concept album based on disorders of a homosexual. Precisely because this the music is a sort of heavy POP extreme dramatic and Progressive. The lyrics are extreme introspective and dramatics, riflessive and extreme true. In every case is the use of a harpsichord, guitar and/ or heavy arrengements, united at very dark production the winning elements in this album. The vocal interpretation is entirely devoted to drama and reflection. Yet it is also cheerful, all of this. A dramatic joy... Unfortunately those who played remain unknown and this is a bad thing. However, Antico Teatro Da Camera is really well-played and produced. And the songs are extreme great songs. If you love the 70's Italian Prog Antico Teatro Da Camera is sure a great Masterpece.

Good album but without huge prog quotient

Gianni D'errico from Brindisi was a singer-songwriter in the early 1970s who made this full length album released shortly after his 1975 death in a tragic accident. The album carries the distinction of being produced and arranged by Equipe 84 leader Maurizio Vandelli who previously produced the first album by Reale Accademia di Musica. Recorded in Milan the album is a stretch to be labeled progressive, falling more in a melancholic light rock vein with some occasional proggy touches. Reminds me a little of the 2nd RAdM album with Monteduro or Claudio Fucci (though a bit heavier with the full drum kit), while others have noted a resemblance to Battisti and Rocchi. The lyrics are quite heavy in nature as mentioned by Mandy, not surprising they would be good considering D'errico was a lyricist for others prior to this album.

Musically you have short tracks featuring D'errico singing accompanied by strummed acoustic guitars, basic "keep the beat" drumming, restrained lead guitar, occasional strings, keys or flute. His singing voice is very nice and sometimes backed with harmonies. There are no long instrumental sections, and very few instrumental excursions that deviate from the task at hand which is backing the melodies. Oh it certainly has its prog tendencies and I can tell that D'errico enjoyed the prog scene and was toying with it.there are nice little flourishes here and there throughout the work.but he never quite goes for it. He throws in a cool vocal section here and a trippy keyboard run there but always pulls back to the main track before letting his hair down. For fans of quality intimate singer/songwriter albums this will not be a problem but for the progressive fan the album could be quite limiting after a few spins. There is a very nice touch in the form of a 2-part esoteric opener/closer that helps lend the album a cohesive feel. And yet for a title about such heavy emotional topics only rarely did he pull me in emotionally on a musical level; on the pop music level there is more aloofness present rather than say the intimacy you might get from something like "Levon" or "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" by Elton John-two tracks that came to mind listening to D'errico. Now D'errico doesn't sound like Elton on the surface but there is a shared songwriting component. Despite how enjoyable it is to me as a fan of most any Italian rock/pop/folk/prog I feel we are truly in "for fans" territory. For the most part, it is the real hard core Italian s/s fans that should get to an album like this, most prog fans wanting some ISP exposure should surely buy tons of other titles before getting to this one. I think anyone would agree with that last sentiment. 5/10

An excellent album by a solo singer/songwritter who wrote some pop songs in the late 60's/1970. Unfortunately, this album came out shortly after his death at a young age (italianprog.com says he was run over by a car). For me, that fact along with this albums sad/melancholic overtones makes for an uneasy but rewarding listen. The album is sandwhiched between an opening/closing piece of rain/thunder (potentially from within an attic amongst old photographs, etc.. ?) Several of the melodies are very memorable with melodic guitars/keyboards that we come to know and love from the vintage 1970's italian RPI scene. I'd say this album is a singer/songwritter concept album with progressive tendancies although he probably did not set out to make an album that would fit within the "RPI" category. I think the "RPI" label is something that came out decades later? At the time this (and the other 70's RPI classics) came out, they were just referring to this as "italian rock" whether it was the pop sounds of I,Pooh/Nomadi to the more experimental sounds of Osanna/Banco/Quella Vecchia Locanda.

GIANNI D'ERRICO had a wonderful singing voice not unlike Luccio Battisti or Claudio Rocchi/Claudio Fucci.

This album blends styles that you're familiar with from Luccio Battisti/Claudio Fucci (another underrated gem) from a singer/songwritter aspect along with some of the bombastic/delicate styles you hear across several of Le Orme's early 1970's gem.

I'd post a youtube link in here but if you want to sample some of the songs from this album, they're out on youtube to listen to.

Please search for GIANNI D'ERRICO Delvish as that's one of the best songs on this album and will give you an idea of the mood/atmosphere of this album.

I'm tempted to round up to 4.5 stars just because this album really deserves a listen to those who like 70's italian prog who have not heard of this guy.

I do consider this a "minor classic" of the italian 70's scene.