Osanna – Preludio Tema Variazioni Canzona

Best Osanna record and one of the best italian rock progressive work.
This 1st edition sounds absolutely glorious and powerful.
Beautiful gatefold cover and strong heavy vinyl. Sounds without noise , vivid and dynamic.
Fabulous!!

Osanna’s second album, originally released in 1972 on Fonit. Original title was "Preludio, tema, variazioni, canzona", but is better known as "Milano Calibro 9" which is the name of the film that used the recording as soundtrack.

Some real strong progressive rock here with the usual powerful rhythm section of the band, strings, flute... along with some orchestral themes by composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov.

This album was a collaboration between Osanna and well-known soundtrack composer Il Rovescio Della Medaglia - Contaminazione. Like the others, it was not conceived as a soundtrack at all!
It seems that after the success of "The Designated Victim" with New Trolls (which had re-recorded and/or different versions of material from New Trolls - Concerto Grosso Per I New Trolls) Bacalov tried the same again with his Osanna collaboration. Truth be said that all the music in the film "Milano Calibro 9" is completely different versions to those on this LP. More of the album features in "Vacanze Per Un Massacro" soundtrack, and completely different versions again (much more orchestrated and with ring-modulated flute) feature in the 1975 film "Kidnap Syndicate".
But, after the release in the USA on Peters International as "Milano Calibro 9" it's now more often known as that. Well, it is an excellent film! A rollicking ride in fact. Oh, and one last point, as a prelude to a key love scene in the film the lady puts on a record, yet it is not Osanna but New Trolls!

Public service announcement: Osanna's Milano Calibro 9 is not exactly the movie soundtrack, despite the album saying it is. I have seen the film, so I should know. Those not knowing Italian might have the impression this is an art film, helped by the psychedelic artwork on the album cover. It is not, especially since "Calibro 9" translates as "Caliber 9", obviously referring to a pistol, meaning it's a crime film, naturally. Watching the film, what you have is actually variants of themes you hear on the album, but are not exactly the same. Many of the songs, like "Variazione I (My Mind Flies)" and "Canzona (There Will Be Time)" wasn't even on the film, as well as the many other "Variazione" parts. Also "Preludio" is similar to on the film, it's not exactly the same. Plus the film also features a song by Osanna not found on the album (the one with Barbara Bouchet dancing on the table). One other song was featured on the film, and it was taken from New Trolls' Concerto Grosso per 1.

After the collaboration with New Trolls, Luis Enriquez Bacalov would collaborate with Osanna. Mainly these are a collection of short pieces, with many of the themes of the movie re-recorded, as well as various short jams, combined with Bacalov's orchestrations. It really shows a change from the more bluesy hard rock of their debut, L'Uomo to a more cohesive prog rock sound. OK, so that last piece, "Canzona (There Will Be Time)" is not particularly prog, it's an orchestrated pop song with an T.S. Eliot poem set to music.

A couple other details: the album made an American release on Peters International in 1973, with improved text, but inferior packaging (as too often with American LPs), with no gatefold. The original Italian LP does have a gatefold, but the text is hard to read, with black typefont on a largely dark setting, where the American version used white typefont.