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The action in this tale about the 18th century adventurer and (at least in popular lore) seducer is set in Cassanova's native Venice in the mid-1700s, so it makes sense that the soundtrack would be loaded with Baroque pieces. The Venice-based Tomaso Albinoni is featured prominentaly, along with heavyweights such as Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Rameau, and George Frideric Handel, and lesser-known composers such as Arcangelo Corelli, Francesco Durante, and Alexandre Desplat. Er, actually Desplat is a contemporary French film composer who also released his score for the couldn't-be-more-different
Syriana shortly after
Casanova came out. Of the two pieces he penned here, "A Venetian Virgin" is in pure Baroque style, while "Inquisitor Pucci" betrays a more modern film-music vibe. Meanwhile, orchestrator Sonny Kompanek rearranged a couple of the tracks and authored the tense "The Plume's Nom Is Casanova," which doesn't sound embarrassing sandwiched between pieces by Albinoni and Handel. Overall, it would have been nice to get longer excerpts from the pieces--many feel chopped into too-small fragments--but the music's innate grace and elegance can't be beat for a period film. Or for any film, really: Vivaldi's Concerto in C Major ("The Doge's Decree") will be familiar to buffs, who will remember it featuring prominently in the Dustin Hoffman-¬Meryl Streep showdown
Kramer vs. Kramer back in 1979.
--Elisabeth Vincentelli
Album Description
He was the world's most notorious seducer. A swashbuckler, master of disguise and wit - it was said no woman could resist Casanova's amorous charms...... until now. For the first time in his life, the legendary Casanova (Heath Ledger) is about to meet his match with an alluring Venetian beauty, Francesca (Sienna Miller), who does the one thing he never thought possible: refuse him. From Academy Award nominated director Lasse Hallstrom ('Chocolat', 'Cider House Rules') comes a rousing romantic comedy about Casanova's greatest adventure - losing his heart. The film also stars Jeremy Irons, as the detective-lie Bishop Pucci who pursues Casanova, hoping to catch him in the act of illicit seduction, Lena Olin as the mother of Casanova's arranged bride-to-be, and Oliver Platt as Papprizzio, Francesca's betrothed. The original score is composed by Alexandre Desplat, recently famous for his film compositions for 'The Girl With The Pearl Earring' and 'The Upside of Anger'. The film is released on 17th February 2006, and this soundtrack is available from 13th February. Emi Music. 2006
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