V/A - Prix Italia

"Subtitled: The Prix Italia And The Radiophonic Experimentation. Deluxe boxed edition -- 6CD + 400-page book in Italian and English. Edited by Angela Ida De Benedictis and Maddalena Novati. After five years of intense, passionate and sometimes painful work, Die Schachtel (in collaboration with RAI) is proud to announce the release of the long-awaited massive book + 6CD boxed edition dedicated to some of the most compelling Italian radio works which took part in the prestigious Prix Italia, a world-famous contest established by the RAI (the National Italian broadcasting company) in the 50s and still alive today, aimed to award the best and most uncompromising audio-visual works produced throughout the world. The Prix Italia and Radiophonic Experimentation presents seven original radio plays -- some of them previously-unreleased -- which entered the competition from 1961 to 1981, complete with two audio interviews of some of the participants. The works have been taken from the original RAI tapes, carefully restored and impeccably re-mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi, making them a splendid listening experience. The accompanying 400-page book (in Italian and English) features seven essays written by some of the most prominent experts in this field, plus a long interview with Mr. Sermonti and the complete transcriptions (again both in Italian and English) of all the featured works. Curated with painstaking attention to detail by Angela Ida De Benedictis and Maddalena Novati (authors of the celebrated New Music At The Radio and Nine Oscillators books, both devoted to the RAI Studio di Fonologia), the enclosed book takes advantage of the impeccable English translation by Mr. Mark Weir and the classic design by Dinamomilano, making it an essential reading in understanding in-depth the musical and semiological aspects of these outstanding works, composed and realized by some of the greatest geniuses of modern Italian music. The selection includes works from artists such as Nino Rota, Bruno Maderna, Niccolö Castiglioni, Luciano Berio and Salvatore Sciarrino. -Die Schachtel.