Rovescio della Medaglia (Italy)Contaminazione (1973)Genres: progressive rock, symphonic rockOne of the finest examples of the marriage between progressive rock and classical music although in terms of orchestration, this album keeps a low profile. Rovescio has come a far way since “La Biblia” and “Io come Io”, in terms of musical development. They also added a keyboard player and the keyboards are also the dominating player on this album.
The heaviness from the past shows up now and then, especially on the second side but this record is firstly a classical sounding one. A concept album concerning Johann Sebastian Bach, they also play a few Bach themes, and with a major contribution from producer Luis Enriquez Bacalov whom, to my understanding, also produced New Trolls classical experiment “Concerto Grosso” from 1971.
It is worth pointing out that the music on “Contaminazione” isn’t of the “an orchestra meets a rock group” kind. RDM creates this piece of music without as much orchestration as you would expect and the music is very modern and symphonic yet very classical sounding. Orchestration are present though and done very well. Flutes and other woodwinds also pop up from time to time.
Top-notch playing, top-notch music and a cleaner sound, compared with the roughness of former albums, are significant for this record, a record that also came out in an English version.
