Henry Mancini Hatari / 33RPM GOLDENOTE PRODUCTION

GN RECORDS - MASTER CLASSIC - LP 12” 33rpm

- remastered from original master tape HALF SPEED full analogue technology

- 180gram virgin vinyl

- 500 numbered copies

The greatness of Henry Mancini in composing musical scores is an all round acknowledgement. Tracks like the famous Moon River or the Pink Panther theme have indissolubly united cinema and music.

In this boundary, Hatari! needs some cross considerations: this soundtrack has been thought and realized for an "easy" comedy, a comedy not very known, at least in Italy. The related cinephile consideration

has always been debatable - for the critics the judgment goes from mediocre to excellent - and this record continues to stand out more for audiophile than for musicological merits.

Record and film are issued in 1962: for Mancini this is the period that follows the blockbuster Breakfast at Tiffany's. Hatari! belongs to a different category and, more than Breakfast at Tiffany's, it aims for the

musical accompaniment and for a better musical understanding through the images. Directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, this film is funny, adventurous and romantic. In Tanganyika, now Tanzania,

some Western animal catchers have to provide zoos with elephants, giraffes and rhinoceros. The equilibrium of this group is broken by the arrival of an Italian wildlife photographer who develops a crush on the rough

leader (Wayne). The film is very dynamic and the backdrop scenery of Africa, although wild, has a certain westernized something. The Hollywood production shows a "like a postcard" landscape, a non-emancipated black

population and always sugarcoated safari atmospheres. If you have not seen the movie, it is very important to know the plot in order to understand the music. This African and American dualism/ overlapping - but not Afro-American!

- sees itself in the soundtrack: a mix of jazz, orchestrations and Afro folkloric references. Drawn by Baby Elephant Walk, the most famous piece, with their exotic timbres and rhythms, all the tracks are instrumental and captivating,

although their emotional impact is all but overwhelming.