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Anglo-Italian conductor, composer, and entertainer (1905–1980) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (Italian: [anˈnuntsjo ˈpaːolo mantoˈvaːni]; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980)[1] was an Italian British conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature.
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Mantovani | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mantovani in 1970 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Annunzio Paolo Mantovani |
| Also known as | Tulio Trapani |
| Born | 15 November 1905 Venice, Veneto, Italy |
| Died | 30 March 1980 (aged 74) Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England |
| Genres | light music |
| Occupation(s) | conductor composer |
| Years active | 1939–1980 |
The book British Hit Singles & Albums stated that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and [have] six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959".[2]
Mantovani was born in Venice, Italy, into a musical family.[1][3] His father, Benedetto Paolo "Bismarck" Mantovani, was a violinist and served as the concertmaster of La Scala opera house's orchestra in Milan, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini.[3] The family moved to England in 1912,[3] where young Annunzio studied at Trinity College of Music in London. After graduation, he formed his own orchestra, which played in and around Birmingham. He married Winifred Moss in 1934, having two children: Kenneth (born 12 July 1935) and Paula Irene (born 11 April 1939). By the time World War II broke out, his orchestra was one of the most popular British dance bands, both on BBC radio broadcasts and in live performances.[4]
He was also musical director for a large number of musicals and other plays, including Noël Coward's Pacific 1860 (1946) and Vivian Ellis's musical setting of J. B. Fagan's And So to Bed (1951).[5] After the war, he concentrated on recording, and eventually gave up live performance altogether. He worked with arranger and composer Ronald "Ronnie" Binge, who developed the "cascading strings" effect (also known as the "Mantovani sound").[6] His records were regularly used for demonstration purposes in stores selling hi-fi stereo equipment, as they were produced and arranged for stereo reproduction. He became the first person to sell a million stereophonic records.[7] In 1952, Binge ceased to arrange for Mantovani but the distinctive sound of the orchestra remained.
Mantovani recorded for Decca and London Records the US arm of the Decca Record Company, exclusively.[3] He recorded in excess of 50 albums on that label, many of which were Top 40 hits. His single tracks included "The Song from Moulin Rouge", which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1953, the first instrumental track ever to do so;[2][8] "Cara Mia" (with him and his orchestra backing David Whitfield) in 1954; "Around the World" in 1957; and "Main Theme from Exodus (Ari's Theme)" in 1960.[3] In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released more than 40 albums with 27 reaching the "Top 40", and 11 in the "Top Ten". His biggest success came with the album Film Encores, which attained number one in 1957.[5]
Similarly, Mantovani Plays Music From 'Exodus' and Other Great Themes made it to the Top Ten in 1961, with over one million albums sold.[5]
Mantovani starred in his own syndicated television series, Mantovani, which was produced in England and which aired in the United States in 1959. Thirty-nine episodes were filmed.[9] Mantovani made his last recordings in the mid-1970s.[10]
He died at a care home in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.[1]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 You may hear Annunzio Mantovani conducting his Mantovani Orchestra in Elizabethan Serenade by Ronald Binge in 1971 Here on archive.org |
The cascading strings technique developed by Binge became Mantovani's hallmark in such hits arranged by Binge as "Charmaine". Binge developed this technique to replicate the echo experienced in venues such as cathedrals and he achieved this goal through arranging skill alone.
Author Joseph Lanza describes Mantovani's string arrangements as the most "rich and mellifluous" of the emerging light music style during the early 1950s. He stated that Mantovani was a leader in the use of new studio technologies to "create sound tapestries with innumerable strings", and that "the sustained hum of Mantovani's reverberated violins produced a sonic vaporizer foreshadowing the synthesizer harmonics of space music."[11] His style survived through an ever-changing variety of musical styles prompting Variety to call him "the biggest musical phenomenon of the twentieth century".[12]
From 1961 to 1971, David McCallum Sr was leader of Mantovani's orchestra. At this time, his son David McCallum Jr was at the height of his fame, prompting Mantovani to introduce his leader to audiences with the quip, "We can afford the father but not the son!"[13]
Mantovani is referred to by name in The Kinks song "Prince of the Punks" and Don Black and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Letter Home to England” in Tell Me on a Sunday. He also had a big influence on Brian May, Queen guitarist.[14]
During his lifetime, Mantovani did not always get respect from his fellow musicians. When George Martin first suggested overdubbing Paul McCartney's recording of "Yesterday" with strings, McCartney's initial reaction, according to Martin, was that he did not want it sounding like Mantovani.[15] Martin therefore used a more classical sound, employing a string quartet.
Much of his catalogue has reappeared on CD. There are also many compilations. A large number of CDs are available containing unauthorised recordings,[citation needed] billed as Mantovani or Mantovani Orchestra; for example the CD titled "The Mantovani Orchestra" released in 1997[16] contained a track from the 1980s Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Cats", which would have required posthumous conducting on the part of Mantovani. There have also been CDs released under the Mantovani name of recordings made by others while Mantovani was still alive.[citation needed]
Following Mantovani's death in 1980, the Mantovani Estate continues to authorise numerous concerts worldwide and recordings using original and newly commissioned arrangements.[citation needed]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
| You may hear Annunzio Montovani's recording Strauss Waltzes with the Montovani Orchestra in 1958 Here on archive.org |
| External audio | |
|---|---|
| You may hear Annunzio Montovani's recording The World of Mantovani Vol. 2 with the Montovani Orchestra in 1971 Here on archive.org |
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated |
Country (UK and/or US) |
Chart positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [17] |
US AC [17] |
UK [18] | |||||||||
| 1951 | "Bees in the Bonnet" b/w "Carriage and Pair" |
UK | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | |||||
| "Wyoming (Go to Sleep My Baby)" b/w "Under the Roofs of Paris" |
US | — | — | — | Waltz Time | ||||||
| "For You" b/w "Kisses in the Dark" |
UK & US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Diane" b/w "Babette" |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "Charmaine" b/w "Just for a While" |
10 | — | — | ||||||||
| "At Dawning" b/w "I Love You Truly" |
— | — | — | A Collection Of Favorite Waltzes | |||||||
| 1952 | "Lovely Lady" b/w "Mexicali Rose" |
UK | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Dancing With Tears in My Eyes" b/w "Dear Love, My Love" |
UK & US | 26 | — | — | |||||||
| "Love, Here Is My Heart" b/w "Moonlight Madonna" |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "It Happened in Monterey" b/w "Was It a Dream" |
US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Faith" b/w "Symphony" |
UK & US | — | — | — | An Enchanted Evening With Mantovani & His Orchestra | ||||||
| "The Agnes Waltz" b/w "Die Schonbrunner" |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Some Enchanted Evening" b/w "Gypsy Love Waltz" (from The Music Of Victor Herbert) |
US & UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "La Cumparsita" b/w "Tango De La Luna" |
UK | — | — | — | Mantovani Plays Tangos | ||||||
| "Tales from the Vienna Woods" b/w "Morning Papers" |
US | — | — | — | Strauss Waltzes | ||||||
| "Blue Danube" b/w "Roses From the South" |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "White Christmas" b/w "Adeste Fideles" |
UK & US | — | — | 6 | Christmas Carols | ||||||
| 1953 | "Gypsy Legend" b/w "Czardas" (from An Enchanted Evening with Mantovani) |
UK | — | — | — | Non-album track | |||||
| "Vienna Blood" b/w "You and You" (from Strauss Waltzes) |
US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Voices of Spring" b/w "Artist's Life" (Non-album track) |
US | — | — | — | Strauss Waltzes | ||||||
| "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" b/w "A Kiss In The Dark" |
UK & US | — | — | — | The Music of Victor Herbert | ||||||
| "Love's Dream After the Ball" b/w "Red Petticoats" (from Mantovani Plays Tangos) |
US | — | — | — | An Enchanted Evening With Mantovani & His Orchestra | ||||||
| "Sweethearts" b/w "I'm Falling in Love With Someone" |
— | — | — | The Music Of Victor Herbert | |||||||
| "Theme From 'The Last Rhapsody'" b/w "Nalia Waltz (Pas Des Fleurs)" Both tracks with Stanley Black |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |||||||
| "Moulin Rouge Theme" b/w "Vola Colomba" |
UK & US | 8 | — | 1 | Romantic Melodies | ||||||
| "Royal Blue Waltz" b/w "Queen Elizabeth Waltz" (from Waltz Time) |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "Ramona" b/w "Chiquita Mia" (from Mantovani Plays Tangos) |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "Prelude in C Sharp Minor" b/w "Simple Aveu" |
US | — | — | — | Mantovani Plays the Immortal Classics | ||||||
| 1954 | "Cara Mia" UK B: "Love, Tears and Kisses" (Non-album track) US B: "How, When Or Where" All sides with David Whitfield |
UK & US | — | — | 1 | Cara Mia | |||||
| "Swedish Rhapsody" b/w "Jamaican Rhumba" |
UK & US | — | — | 2 | Romantic Melodies | ||||||
| "Luxembourg Polka" b/w "Music Box Tango" |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Shadow Waltz" b/w "Moonlight Serenade" |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "Bewitched" b/w "Dream Dream Dream" (from Musical Modes) |
UK & US | — | — | — | Song Hits From Theatreland | ||||||
| "Lonely Ballerina" UK B:"Lazy Gondolier" US B: "You Stepped Out Of A Dream" (from Candlelight) |
— | — | 16 | Musical Modes | |||||||
| 1955 | "We'll Gather Lilacs" b/w "Come Back To Me" (Non-album track) |
UK | — | — | — | Romantic Melodies | |||||
| "Softly, Softly" b/w "Longing" (from Candlelight) |
— | — | — | Non-album track | |||||||
| "Lazy Gondolier" b/w "Longing" (from Candlelight) |
US | — | — | — | Musical Modes | ||||||
| "Our Dream Waltz" UK B: "Ma Chere Amie" (from Musical Modes US B: "Begin The Beguine" (from Musical Modes) |
UK & US | — | — | — | Waltz Time | ||||||
| "Beyond the Stars" b/w "Open Your Heart" Both sides with David Whitfield |
— | — | 8 | Cara Mia | |||||||
| "Stranger in Paradise" b/w "The Deserted Ballroom" (from Musical Modes) |
UK | — | — | — | Song Hits From Theatreland | ||||||
| "Intermezzo" b/w "Edelma" |
— | — | — | Musical Modes | |||||||
| "When You Lose the One You Love" b/w "Angelus" Both sides with David Whitfield |
UK & US | — | — | 7 | Cara Mia | ||||||
| 1956 | "Spring in Montmarte" UK B: "Heart of Paris" US B: "Candlelight" |
— | — | — | Candlelight | ||||||
| "Candlelight" b/w "Begin the Beguine" (from Musical Modes) |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Song of Sorrento" UK B: "Blue Fantasy" US B: "Valse Campestre" (Non-album track) |
UK & US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Toy Shop Ballet" b/w "Temple of Dreams" |
UK | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | ||||||
| 1957 | "Around the World" UK B: "The Heart of Budapest" (from Gypsy Soul) US B: "The Road To Ballingarry" (Non-album track) |
UK & US | 12 | — | 20 | Film Encores, Vol. 2 | |||||
| "Mandolin Serenade" b/w "The Spring Song" |
UK | Non-album tracks | |||||||||
| "Let Me Be Loved" UK B: "The Road to Ballingarry" US B: "Call Of The West" |
UK & US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Souvenir D'italie" b/w "Dream Dust" |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1958 | "Story of Three Loves" b/w "To My Love" (Non-album track) |
US | — | — | — | Music From The Films | |||||
| "Cry My Heart" (with David Whitfield) b/w "Dream Dust" |
— | — | — | Non-album tracks | |||||||
| "Love Song from 'Houseboat"" UK B: "A Certain Smile" (from Film Encores, Vol. 2) US B: "Almost In Your Arms" (with Vera Lynn) |
UK & US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "To My Love" b/w "The Canary" |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Tulips from Amsterdam" b/w "Only Yesterday" (Non-album track) |
US | — | — | — | Strictly Mantovani | ||||||
| "Come Prima" b/w "The Canary" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | Continental Encores | |||||||
| "I Could Have Danced All Night" b/w "This Nearly Was Mine" |
UK | — | — | — | Gems Forever | ||||||
| 1959 | "Under Paris Skies" UK B: "Only Yesterday" (Non-album track) US B: "Separate Tables" (from Film Encores, Vol. 2) |
UK & US | — | — | — | Continental Encores | |||||
| "Fascination" b/w "Separate Tables" |
UK | — | — | — | Film Encores, Vol. 2 | ||||||
| "Summertime" b/w "This Nearly Was Mine" |
US | — | — | — | Gems Forever | ||||||
| "Camptown Races" b/w "Ring De Banjo" |
— | — | — | The American Scene | |||||||
| 1960 | "The Orange Vendor" b/w "In The Spring" (Non-album track) |
UK | — | — | — | Mantovani Tango | |||||
| "Song Without End" UK B: "Tania" (Non-album track) US B: "In The Spring" (Non-album track) |
UK & US | — | — | — | Great Theme Music | ||||||
| "The Green Leaves of Summer" b/w "The Party's Over" (from Strictly Mantovani) |
UK | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Theme from 'The Sundowners'" b/w "Mine Alone" (Non-album track) |
US | 93 | — | — | |||||||
| "Irma La Douce" b/w "The Count of Luxembourg Waltz" (from Operetta Memories) |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "Main Theme from 'Exodus'" b/w "Karen" |
UK & US | 31 | — | — | |||||||
| 1961 | "Theme from 'The Valiant Years'" UK B: '"The Sound of Music" (from Great Theme Music) US B: "Non Dimenticar" |
UK & US | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | |||||
| "Theme from 'Rocco and His Brothers'" b/w "Greengage Summer" (Non-album track) |
US | — | — | — | Moon River and Other Great Film Themes | ||||||
| "Moon River" b/w "Sail Away" (Non-album track) |
US | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1962 | "Fanny" b/w "Nadya's Theme from 'Rocco and His Brothers'" |
UK | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Theme from 'Barabbas'" b/w "Far Away" (Non-album track) |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| "Theme from 'Advise and Consent"" b/w "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (from American Waltzes) |
US | — | — | — | |||||||
| "What Kind of Fool Am I?" b/w "Someone Nice Like You" |
— | — | — | Stop the World I Want to Get Off / Oliver | |||||||
| "Summer Night" b/w "Rickshaw" |
UK | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | ||||||
| "Love Song From 'Mutiny on the Bounty'" b/w "Theme from 'Mutiny on the Bounty'" |
— | — | — | ||||||||
| 1963 | "A Girl Named Tamiko" b/w "Taras Bulba" |
— | — | — | |||||||
| "Take the 'A' Train" b/w "The Bowery" |
US | Manhattan | |||||||||
| 1964 | "Charade" b/w "The Fall of Love" (Non-album track) |
UK | — | — | — | The Mantovani Sound-Big Hits From Broadway and Hollywood | |||||
| "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" b/w "Return to Peyton Place" (from Moon River and Other Great Film Themes) |
UK | — | — | — | The Incomparable Mantovani | ||||||
| 1966 | "Yesterday" b/w "Paris Lullaby" (Non-album track) |
US | — | — | — | Mr. Music | |||||
| "Games That Lovers Play" UK B: "Somewhere My Love" (Non-album track) US B: "Ebb Tide" (from Mr. Music) |
UK & US | 122 | — | — | Mantovani's Golden Hits | ||||||
| 1967 | "You Only Live Twice" b/w "Puppet on a String" (from The Mantovani Touch) |
UK | — | — | — | Hollywood | |||||
| 1968 | "Theme from 'Villa Rides'" b/w "Willow Tree" (Non-album track) |
UK & US | — | 36 | — | Gypsy Soul | |||||
| 1969 | "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" b/w "Come September" |
US | — | — | — | The Mantovani Scene | |||||
| 1971 | "Theme from Love Story" UK B: "Gwendolyne" US B: "Loss Of Love" |
UK & US | — | — | — | From Monty, With Love | |||||
| "All Of a Sudden" b/w "Winter World Of Love" |
US | — | — | — | To Lovers Everywhere | ||||||
| 1973 | "Upstairs Downstairs" b/w "Theme for a Western" (from Annunzio Paolo Mantovani) |
UK | — | — | — | An Evening With Mantovani | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released to that territory | |||||||||||
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