THE MUSIC MEETING WITH THE COMPOSER FRANCO PIERSANTI “I already knew Corto Maltese but I hadn’t read all his adventures. During our first meetings, I soon realised that Pascal Morelli wanted a very precise and dramatic music with many references to a specific classic tradition. When we met in Paris, the film staff showed me the sketches and the preparatory drawings. So I had the whole storyboard available. I therefore started to work on it. I thought for a long time about the subject of Corto. I took the principle of the music indicative matching the character applied in Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”. The first piece I wrote was similar to a Venetian song. Later, I orientated my inspiration towards something more romantic, more "European mood". The character of Corto somewhat resembles Arthur Rimbaud for his wish “to be always somewhere else”. The music of “Corto” thus evokes a poetic music as if it wanted to recall travel memories. What I wrote is a nostalgic ballad with the music of a carillon. It is a little bit like when you open a music box. One of the most difficult sequences to be orchestrated was that of the attack to Admiral Kolchak’s train full of gold. I had inserted some tones that were too cruel and dramatic, absurd, I would say, so that the music was not melodic and symphonic enough. Moreover, the beginning that in the first version lasted six minutes, in the final version was shortened to four minutes, so that I had to adjust and review the score. “Corto Maltese” is an unusual cartoon film that absorbed me much more than traditional films. It is very hard to explain. Over my twenty-year long career, I have written about 80 soundtracks for the television and for Cinecittà and this is why I feel I’ve reached a certain level of maturity. I know that I am completely free in my work. Biography and filmography of FRANCO PIERSANTI: Born in Rome in 1950, he graduated at the Santa Cecilia conservatory in contrabass, composition and conducting. He began as soundtrack composer in 1977 with Nanni Moretti’s film "Io sono un autarchico". Ever since, he has written about 70 soundtracks for the cinema and about 70 soundtracks for the theatre. Nanni Moretti, "Ecce Bombo" (1978), "Sogni d'oro" (1981), "Bianca" (1984); Carlo Lizzani, "Mamma Ebe" (1985); Margarethe Von Trotta, "Paura e amore" (1987); Ermanno Olmi, "Il segreto del bosco vecchio"; Gianni Amelio, "Colpire al cuore" (1982), "I velieri", "Porte aperte" (1990), "Il ladro di bambini" (1992) and "Lamerica" (1994). He was twice awarded the David di Donatello award for the best soundtrack.