Riz Ortolani, celebrations for the centenary of his birth

On March 25th Pesaro will celebrate 100 years since the birth of Riz Ortolani, who was a native of the Marche city: he was one of our most appreciated and imaginative musicians (jazz player, arranger and author of soundtracks).

After graduating from the Gioachino Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, at the age of twenty he moved to Rome, where he joined a group of young instrumentalists from the RAI orchestra. Here he quickly came to the attention of the company’s managers, who entrusted him with the direction of a jazz-symphony orchestra which would give him immediate popularity.

His cinematographic career began in ’62 with the soundtrack of the documentary film “Mondo Cane” by Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi. The main theme of the film, “More”, sung by Katyna Ranieri (Ortolani’s wife), earned him an Oscar nomination for “Best Theme Song” and a Grammy Award win for “Best Instrumental Theme” in 1964. “More” has over a thousand recordings by the world’s major artists and 70 million records sold.

In his career, collaborations with American Studios (MGM, United Artist, Universal) and with directors such as Vittorio De Sica, Dino Risi, Franco Zeffirelli, Terence Young, Edward Dmytryk, and in particular with Damiano Damiani and Pupi Avati are worth mentioning. Among his many scores should be remembered at least, in addition to “Mondo Cane”, “Il sorpasso” (the film by Dino Risi with Vittorio Gassmann and Jean-Louis Trintignant), “Africa addio”, “Fratello Sole Sorella Luna” by Franco Zeffirelli (the song of the same name was recorded by Claudio Baglioni), up to the more recent “Ma Quando Arrive Girls”, “Il padre di Giovanna”, “Una sconfinata youth”.

In 2001, his first symphonic work was performed at the Rossini Theater in Pesaro: “Symphony of Memory”. In 2004, at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, his first ballet entitled “In Una Parte di Cielo” was presented, inspired by the life of Michelangelo.

In 2007 he created the Riz Ortolani Foundation in Pesaro, together with his wife Katina Ranieri, to promote music through scholarships, seminars, debates, concerts and exhibitions. In the same year the OperaMusical “Il Principe della Gioventù” was born, inspired by the historical story of the Pazzi Conspiracy in Renaissance Florence.

During his long career Ortolani has conducted prestigious symphony orchestras such as those of London, Berlin, Houston, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico, La Fenice in Venice, the Symphony of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Regio of Turin and the Philharmonique de Montecarlo. His tour in Japan conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra remains memorable.

The teaser of the docufilm that director Marco Dentici created for Rai, “See you at Riz – Harmonies and dissonances”, will be screened in Pesaro. As the director explains, “The film accompanies Riz Ortolani on a physical and mental journey starting from his formative studies at the Gioacchino Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, up to the high goals of artistic maturity. An itinerary over eighty years long, marked not only by his assiduous attendance at recording studios, but also by the numerous concerts performed in the most prestigious theaters in the world.”

In an official meeting scheduled for 6pm on April 25th at Palazzo Gradari, in Pesaro (see image in the article), the city’s initiatives will be announced “to build an important year dedicated to Riz Ortolani”, as deputy mayor Vimini anticipates.

In Pesaro, work is already underway on a concrete tribute with an ad hoc investment: the transformation of the Riz Ortolani Music Garden inaugurated in 2017 in the courtyard of Palazzo Ricci into a real open-air theater with approximately 250 seats; a place where Ortolani’s music can be revived but also – with the availability of the Foundation and the family – memorabilia and documents that tell of his greatness.