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Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980) was an Italian Brits conductor, composer and light music-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature.
The book British Hit Singles & Albums stated that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and have six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959".
He was also musical director for a large number of musicals and other plays, including Noël Coward's Pacific 1860 (1946) and Vivian Ellis's musical setting of J. B. Fagan's And So to Bed (1951). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (2001) Schirmer, New York After the war, he concentrated on recording, and eventually gave up live performance altogether. He worked with arranger and composer Ronald Binge, who developed the "cascading string orchestra" effect (also known as the "Mantovani sound"). Sailing By – The Ronald Binge Story (Mike Carey, 2000) His records were regularly used for demonstration purposes in stores selling hi-fi stereophonic equipment, as they were produced and arranged for stereo reproduction. He became the first person to sell a million stereophonic records."Mantovani, Whose String Orchestras Sold Millions of Record Albums Dead at 74" (31 Mar 1980) The Boston Globe In 1952, Binge ceased to arrange for Mantovani but the distinctive sound of the orchestra remained.
Mantovani recorded for Decca Records and London Records the US arm of the Decca Record Company, exclusively. He recorded in excess of 50 albums on that label, many of which were Top 40 hit record. His single tracks included "The Song from Moulin Rouge", which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1953, the first instrumental track ever to do so; "Cara Mia" (with him and his orchestra backing David Whitfield) in 1954; "Around the World" in 1957; and "Main Theme from Exodus (Ari's Theme)" in 1960. In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released more than 40 albums, with 27 reaching the Top 40, and 11 in the Top Ten. His biggest success came with the album Film Encores, which reached number one in 1957.
Similarly, Mantovani Plays Music From 'Exodus' and Other Great Themes made it to the Top Ten in 1961, with over a million albums sold.
Mantovani starred in his own syndicated television series, Mantovani, which was produced in England and aired in the United States in 1959. Thirty-nine episodes were filmed.Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. Mantovani made his last recordings in the mid-1970s."Annunzio Mantovani World-famous conductor was bridge to classics" (31 March 1980) The Globe and Mail, Toronto
He died at a care home in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Author Joseph Lanza describes Mantovani's string arrangements as the most "rich and mellifluous" of the emerging light music style during the early 1950s. He stated that Mantovani was a leader in the use of new studio technologies to "create sound tapestries with innumerable strings", and that "the sustained hum of Mantovani's violins produced a sonic vaporizer foreshadowing the synthesizer harmonics of space music." His style survived through an ever-changing variety of musical styles prompting Variety to call him "the biggest musical phenomenon of the twentieth century"."Mantovano Dies at 74" (31 March 1980) Altoona Mirror, Altoona, Pennsylvania
From 1961 to 1971, David McCallum Sr was leader of Mantovani's orchestra. At this time, his son David McCallum Jr was at the height of his fame, prompting Mantovani to introduce his leader to audiences with the quip, "We can afford the father but not the son!" "David McCallum, Violin, Leader". hallowquest.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
Mantovani is referred to by name in The Kinks song "Prince of the Punks" and Don Black and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Letter Home to England” in Tell Me on a Sunday. He also had a big influence on Brian May, Queen guitarist.
During his lifetime, Mantovani did not always get respect from his fellow musicians. When George Martin first suggested overdubbing Paul McCartney's recording of "Yesterday" with strings, McCartney's initial reaction, according to Martin, was that he did not want it sounding like Mantovani.Cryer, Max. Love Me Tender: the Stories Behind the World's Favourite Songs. Exisle Publishing (Australia). Martin therefore used a more classical sound, employing a string quartet.
Following Mantovani's death in 1980, the Mantovani Estate continues to authorise numerous concerts worldwide and recordings using original and newly commissioned arrangements.
Music style and influences
The cascading strings technique developed by Binge became Mantovani's hallmark in such hits arranged by Binge as "Charmaine". Binge developed this technique to replicate the echo experienced in venues such as cathedrals and he achieved this goal through arranging skill alone.
Posthumous publishing
Much of his catalogue has reappeared on CD. There are also many compilations. A large number of CDs are available containing unauthorised recordings, billed as Mantovani or Mantovani Orchestra; for example the CD titled "The Mantovani Orchestra" released in 1997 contained a track from the 1980s Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Cats", which would have required posthumous conducting on the part of Mantovani. There have also been CDs released under the Mantovani name of recordings made by others while Mantovani was still alive.
Discography
Albums
Light classical music
Christmas music
Singles
1951 "Bees in the Bonnet"
b/w "Carriage and Pair"UK — — — Non-album tracks "Wyoming (Go to Sleep My Baby)"
b/w "Under the Roofs of Paris"US — — — Waltz Time "For You"
b/w "Kisses in the Dark"UK & US — — — "Diane"
b/w "Babette"— — — "Charmaine"
b/w "Just for a While"10 — — "At Dawning"
b/w "I Love You Truly"— — — A Collection Of Favorite Waltzes 1952 "Lovely Lady"
b/w "Mexicali Rose"UK — — — "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes"
b/w "Dear Love, My Love"UK & US 26 — — "Love, Here Is My Heart"
b/w "Moonlight Madonna"— — — "It Happened in Monterey"
b/w "Was It a Dream"US — — — "Faith"
b/w "Symphony"UK & US — — — An Enchanted Evening With Mantovani
& His Orchestra"The Agnes Waltz"
b/w "Die Schonbrunner"UK — — — "Some Enchanted Evening"
b/w "Gypsy Love Waltz" (from The Music Of Victor Herbert)US & UK — — — "La Cumparsita"
b/w "Tango De La Luna"UK — — — Mantovani Plays Tangos "Tales from the Vienna Woods"
b/w "Morning Papers" US — — — Strauss Waltzes "Blue Danube"
b/w "Roses From the South" UK — — — "White Christmas"
b/w "Adeste Fideles"UK & US — — 6 Christmas Carols 1953 "Gypsy Legend"
b/w "Czardas" (from An Enchanted Evening with Mantovani)UK — — — Non-album track "Vienna Blood"
b/w "You and You" (from Strauss Waltzes)US — — — "Voices of Spring"
b/w "Artist's Life" (Non-album track)US — — — Strauss Waltzes "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"
b/w "A Kiss In The Dark"UK & US — — — The Music of Victor Herbert "Love's Dream After the Ball"
b/w "Red Petticoats" (from Mantovani Plays Tangos)US — — — An Enchanted Evening With Mantovani
& His Orchestra"Sweethearts"
b/w "I'm Falling in Love With Someone"— — — The Music Of Victor Herbert "Theme From 'The Last Rhapsody'"
b/w "Nalia Waltz (Pas Des Fleurs)"
Both tracks with Stanley Black— — — Non-album tracks "Moulin Rouge Theme"
b/w "Vola Colomba"UK & US 8 — 1 Romantic Melodies "Royal Blue Waltz"
b/w "Queen Elizabeth Waltz" (from Waltz Time)— — — "Ramona"
b/w "Chiquita Mia" (from Mantovani Plays Tangos)— — — "Prelude in C Sharp Minor"
b/w "Simple Aveu"US — — — Mantovani Plays the Immortal Classics 1954 "Cara Mia"
UK B: "Love, Tears and Kisses" (Non-album track)
US B: "How, When Or Where"
All sides with David WhitfieldUK & US — — 1 Cara Mia "Swedish Rhapsody"
b/w "Jamaican Rhumba"UK & US — — 2 Romantic Melodies "Luxembourg Polka"
b/w "Music Box Tango"UK — — — "Shadow Waltz"
b/w "Moonlight Serenade"— — — "Bewitched"
b/w "Dream Dream Dream" (from Musical Modes)UK & US — — — Song Hits From Theatreland "Lonely Ballerina"
UK B:"Lazy Gondolier"
US B: "You Stepped Out of a Dream" (from Candlelight)— — 16 Musical Modes 1955 "We'll Gather Lilacs"
b/w "Come Back to Me" (Non-album track)UK — — — Romantic Melodies "Softly, Softly"
b/w "Longing" (from Candlelight)— — — Non-album track "Lazy Gondolier"
b/w "Longing" (from Candlelight)US — — — Musical Modes "Our Dream Waltz"
UK B: "Ma Chere Amie" (from Musical Modes
US B: "Begin The Beguine" (from Musical Modes)UK & US — — — Waltz Time "Beyond the Stars"
b/w "Open Your Heart"
Both sides with David Whitfield— — 8 Cara Mia "Stranger in Paradise"
b/w "The Deserted Ballroom" (from Musical Modes)UK — — — Song Hits From Theatreland "Intermezzo"
b/w "Edelma" — — — Musical Modes "When You Lose the One You Love"
b/w "Angelus"
Both sides with David WhitfieldUK & US — — 7 Cara Mia 1956 "Spring in Montmarte"
UK B: "Heart of Paris"
US B: "Candlelight"— — — Candlelight "Candlelight"
b/w "Begin the Beguine" (from Musical Modes)UK — — — "Song of Sorrento"
UK B: "Blue Fantasy"
US B: "Valse Campestre" (Non-album track)UK & US — — — "Toy Shop Ballet"
b/w "Temple of Dreams"UK — — — Non-album tracks 1957 "Around the World"
UK B: "The Heart of Budapest" (from Gypsy Soul)
US B: "The Road To Ballingarry" (Non-album track)UK & US 12 — 20 Film Encores, Vol. 2 "Mandolin Serenade"
b/w "The Spring Song"UK Non-album tracks "Let Me Be Loved"
UK B: "The Road to Ballingarry"
US B: "Call Of The West"UK & US — — — "Souvenir D'italie"
b/w "Dream Dust"UK — — — 1958 "Story of Three Loves"
b/w "To My Love" (Non-album track)US — — — Music From The Films "Cry My Heart" (with David Whitfield)
b/w "Dream Dust"— — — Non-album tracks "Love Song from 'Houseboat""
UK B: "A Certain Smile" (from Film Encores, Vol. 2)
US B: "Almost In Your Arms" (with Vera Lynn)UK & US — — — "To My Love"
b/w "The Canary"UK — — — "Tulips from Amsterdam"
b/w "Only Yesterday" (Non-album track)US — — — Strictly Mantovani "Come Prima"
b/w "The Canary" (Non-album track)— — — Continental Encores "I Could Have Danced All Night"
b/w "This Nearly Was Mine"UK — — — Gems Forever 1959 "Under Paris Skies"
UK B: "Only Yesterday" (Non-album track)
US B: "Separate Tables" (from Film Encores, Vol. 2)UK & US — — — Continental Encores "Fascination"
b/w "Separate Tables"UK — — — Film Encores, Vol. 2 "Summertime"
b/w "This Nearly Was Mine"US — — — Gems Forever "Camptown Races"
b/w "Ring De Banjo"— — — The American Scene 1960 "The Orange Vendor"
b/w "In The Spring" (Non-album track)UK — — — Mantovani Tango "Song Without End"
UK B: "Tania" (Non-album track)
US B: "In The Spring" (Non-album track)UK & US — — — Great Theme Music "The Green Leaves of Summer"
b/w "The Party's Over" (from Strictly Mantovani)UK — — — "Theme from 'The Sundowners'"
b/w "Mine Alone" (Non-album track)US 93 — — "Irma La Douce"
b/w "The Count of Luxembourg Waltz" (from Operetta Memories)— — — "Main Theme from 'Exodus'"
b/w "Karen"UK & US 31 — — 1961 "Theme from 'The Valiant Years'"
UK B: '"The Sound of Music" (from Great Theme Music)
US B: "Non Dimenticar" UK & US — — — Non-album tracks "Theme from 'Rocco and His Brothers'"
b/w "Greengage Summer" (Non-album track)US — — — Moon River and Other Great Film Themes "Moon River"
b/w "Sail Away" (Non-album track)US — — — 1962 "Fanny"
b/w "Nadya's Theme from 'Rocco and His Brothers'"UK — — — "Theme from 'Barabbas'"
b/w "Far Away" (Non-album track)— — — "Theme from 'Advise and Consent""
b/w "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (from American Waltzes)US — — — "What Kind of Fool Am I?"
b/w "Someone Nice Like You"— — — Stop the World I Want to Get Off / Oliver "Summer Night"
b/w "Rickshaw"UK — — — Non-album tracks "Love Song From 'Mutiny on the Bounty'"
b/w "Theme from 'Mutiny on the Bounty'"— — — 1963 "A Girl Named Tamiko"
b/w "Taras Bulba"— — — "Take the 'A' Train"
b/w "The Bowery"US Manhattan 1964 "Charade"
b/w "The Fall of Love" (Non-album track)UK — — — The Mantovani Sound-Big Hits From
Broadway and Hollywood"I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
b/w "Return to Peyton Place" (from Moon River and Other Great Film Themes)UK — — — The Incomparable Mantovani 1966 "Yesterday"
b/w "Paris Lullaby" (Non-album track)US — — — Mr. Music "Games That Lovers Play"
UK B: "Somewhere My Love" (Non-album track)
US B: "Ebb Tide" (from Mr. Music)UK & US 122 — — Mantovani's Golden Hits 1967 "You Only Live Twice"
b/w "Puppet on a String" (from The Mantovani Touch)UK — — — Hollywood 1968 "Theme from 'Villa Rides'"
b/w "Willow Tree" (Non-album track)UK & US — 36 — Gypsy Soul 1969 "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
b/w "Come September"US — — — The Mantovani Scene 1971 "Theme from Love Story"
UK B: "Gwendolyne"
US B: "Loss Of Love"UK & US — — — From Monty, With Love "All Of a Sudden"
b/w "Winter World Of Love"US — — — To Lovers Everywhere 1973 "Upstairs Downstairs"
b/w "Theme for a Western" (from Annunzio Paolo Mantovani)UK — — — An Evening With Mantovani "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that territory
Selected filmography
See also
External links
Categories: 1905 Births, 1980 Deaths, 20th-century Classical Musicians, 20th-century Italian Composers, 20th-century Male Composers, 20th-century Italian Conductors, 20th-century Italian Male Musicians, Italian Bandleaders, Dance Band Bandleaders, Easy Listening Musicians, Entertainments National Service Association Personnel, Italian Classical Musicians, Italian Emigrants To The United Kingdom, Italian Light Music Composers, Italian Male Composers, Italian Male Conductors, Italian Music Arrangers, London Records Artists, Musicians From Venice
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