Ai Giochi Addio
ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
Nino Rota (December 3, 1911, Milan– April 10, 1979, Rome) was an Italian composer and academician who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. He also composed the music for two of Franco Zeffirelli’s Shakespeare films, and for the first two films of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy, receiving for the latter the Oscars ® for Best Original Score in 1974.
ABOUT THE SCORE:
Nino Rota composed the love theme song for the 1968 British – Italian cinematic adoption of the William Shakespeare’ play “Romeo and Juliet”. This movie was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli and won the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design and it was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture.
Two releases of the score of the film, composed by Rota, have been released. There are two different sets of English lyrics to the song.
• The film's version is called “What Is a Youth?”, featuring lyrics by Eugene Walter and sung by Glen Weston. This version has been released on the complete- score soundtrack release; • An alternate version, called “A Time for Us”, featuring lyrics by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder. This version has been recorded by Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams among others. Josh Groban, the American Tenor, performed "Un Giorno Per Noi", an Italian version of "A Time for Us".
A third version is called "Ai Giochi Addio", featuring lyrics by Elsa Morante, and has been performed by Opera singers such as Luciano Pavarotti and Natasha Marsh.
In 2010 Leonardo (Bahram) Tajabadi, Baritone singer, performed a mix Italian-English version of “A Time for Us- Ai Giochi Addio”, which was also broadcast in a talent show on IDF1-French TV. In June 2011 Mosi Dorbayani of The World Academy of Arts, Literature and Media – WAALM facilitated a duet of this song with Leonardo, featuring the Persian Pop-tenor, Sattar. ABOUT THE SINGER:
Leonardo (Bahram) Tajabadi is a Baritone Opera singer. He was born in July 14, 1976 in Tehran, Iran and currently lives in France.
He studied at Tehran University and the Conservatoire de Paris where his vocal talents were discovered Baritone. Thus he began his career in the world of opera.
He participated in various master classes and collaborated on various projects in Europe and the United States under the direction of the greatest international masters. He was awarded with four degrees:
Two degrees from the Florence Opera House, conferred by Patricia Morandini; and the International Academy of Nice conferred by Lorraine Nubar, who is also a professor at the Juilliard School of New York; and the other two from the Academy of Music of Florence By Liliana Poli
Leonardo has also received a diploma in Italian Opera in the category of ‘Interpretation of Art Lyrique’ at the international competition Francisco Vinas in Barcelona conferred by Bonaldo Giaiotti.
In 2006, he performed at the Festival Song of Milan and Berlin, Barcelona, Florence Opera, Nice, Paris and London. In 2007, he was a finalist in the Opera Singing Competition in Paris with which led him to be chosen for the role of Figaro in the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart in Paris.
In 2009, he was chosen three times for the role of "Sharpless" in the opera Madame Butterfly by Puccini in Florence. In 2010, he performed in Rome in "La Traviata" by Verdi as "Barone Dulphos" and Montalto in the "Bohemian" by Puccini in the role of "Marcello."
Leonardo likes Persian Opera too, and took important roles in Khosrow & Shirin with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Slovakia.
In 2011 he performed live in a talent show, ”You Have Talent” on IDF1, which is one of the famous TV channels in France with near 20 million viewers.
ABOUT THE FEATURED SINGER:
Sattar is a Pop-tenor, Oratorio singer who has recorded over 300 songs, has released more than 30 albums and performed in 23 countries, from Kodak Theater in LA, USA to ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ in London, England, to ‘Lan Xess Arena’ in Germany.
He is the favourite of The Persian Royal Family and Persian's most idolized vocalist artist of our contemporary time.
Sattar's fame began at the age of 22 with the release of the theme song "Khaneh Bedosh" to "Morad Barghi", a popular television show in Persia. The show made him an instant star. Young, talented, and extremely handsome, he soon became an icon all over the Middle East.
In 1978, Sattar migrated to the United States and continued his singing career in Los Angeles, California. In 1980, he got married and eventually became a father. His career blossomed further through the years, leading him on tours all over the world.
As a caring individual, Sattar volunteers to perform at charity events for causes he believes in supporting. In September 2004 International Further Studies Institute - I.F.S.I, conferred him with an Honorary Doctorate award for his sincere dedication and contribution to human kind, world of art, and Persian music in particular.
With 40 years of fame, Sattar's career has been dynamic. He has over 50 greatest hits, which include the internationally known "Goleh Sangam" and other hit songs such as "Shazdeh Khanoom", "Sharhr-e Gham", "Hamsafar", "Gole Pooneh", "Akharin Talash" and "Yegangi" among others.
The key to his longevity is his amazing vocal ability and melodious voice, which can ranges from "Classic / Traditional (Dastgahi)" to the diverse sounds of present day "Pop Music".
Sattar, is an Award winner in Persian Music, who receive two Golden Lioness Awards in October 2005 from The World Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media - WAALM in Budapest. He received his first award for his best Melodic Voice in Pop music and the second award for his Vocal ability in Classic - Arranged.
Sattar is also among he panel of judges for the 'Next Persian Star Show' a similar programme as the American Idol in search of pop vocal artist. The Next Persian Star Show broadcasts from Germany by TV Persia to over 70 million viewers in Middle East, North America and Europe.
MEMOIR ON THIS COLLABORATION:
Leonardo : “It was in mid 2010 when ‘Totalisimo’ my Spanish agency formally introduced me to the WAALM Academy and I received a complimentary email from them in response. In the same year following a TV interview in which parts of my work were broadcast, I got contacted by Dr. Dorbayani, the president of WAALM, suggesting me to have this collaboration and to extend the classic and opera music to the Persian audience. Since I was a fan of Maestro Sattar and not only admired his art but also respected his views and attitude, I agreed right there and then. I recommended “A Time for US”, which was recorded by me earlier and WAALM facilitated to have Maestro Sattar to record the English – tenor parts of this song. And here we go, a classic duet dedicated to all with passion for music. ”
Sattar: “I like this piece of music which is composed by Nino Rota and I found Leonardo’s version with his warm baritone voice interesting. When WAALM asked me if I would be interested to feature and do the English parts of this song, I thought why not and I gladly agreed.
To me this piece of music is significant not just because it is associated with Shakespeare’s tragedy of Romeo and Juliet but due to its rich and complex characteristics that can be felt throughout the score. Similar to its movie, in this music one can sense ‘love’, ‘fate & chance’, and ‘duality of light & dark’. And not to say that it is still contemporary”.
JOINT STATEMENT:
“Hereby, Leonardo, Sattar and WAALM dedicate this song to “Peace & Love” May our world shine!”
DISCLAMATION:
The duet version of “A Time for Us” recorded by Leonardo (Bahram) Tajabadi featuring Sattar is a project belonged to Bahram Tajabadi. Since this production is not for commercial release, the facilitation of Mosi Dorbayani / WAALM and contribution of Maestro Sattar to this project and their collaboration with the Maestro Tajabad, the producer, were fully on honorary basis and without any financial gain or expectations.
This music is produced under the cover song license No.: RFI97022555126163
All the enquiries on this performance/production as well as its rights should be addressed to Leonardo (Bahram) Tajabadi at: [email protected]
Credit:
A Time For Us / Ai Giochi Addio
• Composer: Nino Rota • Lyricists: Elsa Morante, Eddie Snyder & Larry Kusik • Violin play: Andre Rieu • Vocals: Leonardo, Feat. Sattar • The flyer / cover designed by: Christelle W. Burst of WAALM
References:
- Nino Rota’s photo is a free public domain image from Wiki;
- Elsa Morante’s image is courtesy of Italian Institute of Culture http://www.iicnewyork.esteri.it ;
- Eddie Snyder’s image is the courtesy of The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk ;
- Romeo & Juliet Oil painting-1870 by Ford Madox, is a free public domain image from Wiki;
- Shakespeare and his title page of his first edition play, is a free public domain image from Wiki;
-The text on the composer and music score is adopted from Wiki. The artists’ biographies and photos are taken from their respective Facebook sites. http://www.facebook.com/bahram.tajabadi http://www.facebook.com/sattarmusic
Other links: www.waalm.com www.waalmdiplomacy.org