COME IN UN'ULTIMA CENA

While PFM was struggling to keep their music interesting on the outskirts of the standard of Italian symphonic prog that they had gracefully helped to forge themselves and Le Orme was losing its creative focus in their post-"Contrappunti" era, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso was still worthy of much consideration as a preserver of the progressive flame. "Come In Un'Ultima Cena" does not match the unspeakable grandeur of their first three studio efforts, that is sure, but the music comprised in this album is far from decadent or unfocused: it is still a revelation of the band's purest essence and it still conveys highest degrees of musical imagination, finesse and sense of adventure. The first two tracks, '...A Cena, Per Esempio' and 'Il Ragno' fully display sonic portraits that combine reasonable complexity and melodic sensibility in equal proportions, nurturing epic sonic developments without being really epic themselves. Yes, it was possible to be located in the latter half of the 70s and remain genuinely creative as a progressiev rock unit; yes, it was perfectly feasible not to become a progressive dinosaur before turning a 30 year old veteran musician. This is also the album that solidified the presence of Rodolfo Maltese as a provider of musical color: together with teh Nocenzi brothers' clarinet, violin and vibraphone input that augmented their dual keyboards, Maltese brought great guitar playing and the magnificent sounds of trumpet and horn to the band's orchestral scheme. This spectacular sonic trend will be properly emphasized in thealbum's highslights 'Slogan', 'Si Dice Che I Delfini Parlino' and 'Voilà Mida (Il Guaritore)'. It is such a miracle that these tracks should be placed in the middle repertoire, ince they create a consistent climax for the whole album. The first and thrid ones are significant of the band's penchant for extroverted moods, while the second one is one of many examples of how BMS was capable of incorporating contemporary jazz elements into a cohesive symphonic framework. The calmest pieces - 'È Così Buono Giovanni, Ma...' and 'La Notte È Piena' - are extremely beautiful: they successfully mix the stylish elegance of Baroque/Renaissance music and the pastoral reflectiveness of Mediterranean folk, resulting in romantic songs that are very cleverly structured. Not your typical mainstream pop ballads, but soft songs that conquer your heart just like that. 'Quando La Buona Gente Dice' is such a lovely folky tune, jolly and consciously naive... why did it need to be so short? The closer 'Fino Alla Mia Porta' also deserved, IMHO, a longer duration so it could fully comprise the splendorous instrumentation that it incapsulated. These songs' arrangements, not their compositions, are basically the factors that prevent this album from becoming yet another BMS masterpiece, but it stands very. very close to this grade. Totally recommended as an item of any good progressiev collection.