Best Italian music movies

Gloria! (2024)

In late 18th century Venice, in a convent school for girls, Teresa, a student with prophetic gifts, joins forces with some amazing music-makers. They create a new kind of pop, bright and bold, and challenge the ancient and rigid system.

Orchestra Rehearsal (1979)

An orchestra assembles for a rehearsal in an ancient chapel under the inquisitive eyes of a TV documentary crew, but an uprising breaks out.

Stardust (1973)

The lives of two local professional dancers change suddenly as American soldiers stop in their town hoping to be entertained in accordance with the Broadway style. Effectively, they perform up to their expectations. However, as the army men have to march northward, their moment of glory finishes heartlessly.

Marvin Gaye - Live In Montreux 1980 (2003)

Marvin Gaye: Live in Montreux 1980 is a taped performance of singer Marvin Gaye's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, recorded on July 17, 1980. Gaye included this performance as part of a European tour. Gaye performs a majority of his hits from his recent disco-funk hits "Got to Give It Up" and "A Funky Space Reincarnation", to his duet hits with Tammi Terrell including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", in which Gaye re-interpolated the songs as a somber tribute to Terrell, who died over a decade before, to sixties Motown classics such as "I'll Be Doggone", "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "I Heard It through the Grapevine", to seventies standards such as "What's Going On", "Trouble Man" and "Let's Get It On". The Montreux set was later released as a CD/DVD in 2003.

Notre Dame de Paris - Live Arena di Verona (2002)

Notre Dame de Paris tells the story of Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer of the cathedral of Notre-Dame and of his impossible and tragic love for Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy. A love condemned by injustice and hypocrisy. Quasimodo forced by his ugliness to look at the world from the top of a tower one day he falls madly in love with Esmeralda who sees dancing and singing on the square in front of the cathedral. But Esmeralda is in love with Febo, the handsome captain of the King's guards. Febo is fiancé of Fiordaliso, a young and rich bourgeois, but the exotic and sensual beauty of the gypsy does not leave indifferent the man who immediately falls in love with her. Even Frollo, the archdeacon of the cathedral, is attracted by the gypsy and spying on the moves of the two lovers in a raptus of jealousy and repressed carnal desire to get rid of the rival stabbing Febo behind.

The Metropolitan Opera: Turandot (2019)

Christine Goerke has wowed audiences as Turandot, the icy princess at the heart of Puccini’s grand final masterpiece. In this performance from the 2019–20 Live in HD season, Goerke stars alongside tenor Yusif Eyvazov (as Calàf) and soprano Eleonora Buratto (as Liù) in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic staging, which dazzles with its opulent visions of mythic China. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is on the podium, drawing a vivid array of musical colors from the incomparable Met Orchestra and Chorus.

The Harvest (2017)

Gurwinder comes from Punjab, he’s been working for years as a farm hand in Agro Pontino, not far from Rome. Since he first came in Italy, he’s been living with the rest of the Sikh community in Latina province. Hardeep is also Indian, but her stress is Roman, and she works as a cultural mediator. She, born and raised in Italy, is trying to free herself from the memories of a family that emigrated in another age, while he is forced, against his faith, to take methamphetamine and doping to bear the heavy work pace, to be able to send money in India.

Beauty (2018)

Aida (1953)

This Italian film version of Verdi's opera stars Sophia Loren on the screen, with Renata Tebaldi providing the vocals.

Radiofreccia (1998)

April 24, 1993: it's the last broadcast of Radiofreccia, an independent radio station closing after 18 years, barely one minute before coming of age. Bruno, one of its founders, begins to tell its story, the story of a group of friends—especially troubled Freccia's—and a period of their youth in their small hometown.

Paganini Horror (1989)

A female rock band acquires an infamous composition by Niccolò Paganini that was used in satanic rituals. When the band decides to record the song and film a video in Paganini's old mansion, the spirit of the deceased composer is summoned and the band unlocks a portal to Hell.

Pink Floyd: Live in Venice (1989)

Live concert by Pink Floyd in Piazza San Marco, Venezia, in 1989, performing: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Learning To Fly, Yet Another Movie, Round And Around, Sorrow, The Dogs Of War, On The Turning Away, Time, The Great Gig In The Sky, Wish You Were Here, Money, Another Brick In The Wall, part two, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell.

Genesis: When in Rome 2007 (2008)

"When in Rome" is a live DVD by the legendary British rock band Genesis, capturing their performance at Circus Maximus in Rome, Italy, on July 14, 2007, during their highly acclaimed "Turn It On Again Tour." This tour marked the reunion of the band's classic lineup of Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford. The decision to make the Rome concert free was a heartfelt gesture of gratitude from Genesis to their Italian fans, who had been loyal supporters since the band's early days in the 1970s. This extraordinary event drew an estimated audience of over 500,000 people, not only from Italy but from all over Europe, making it one of the largest concerts in terms of audience size ever recorded.

Andrea Bocelli - Vivere Live in Tuscany (2007)

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli grew up in Lajatico, a rural village in Tuscany, where his family still farms nearby. In July 2007, on the slopes of his ancient hill town, a special theater was constructed for a one-night-only concert of his greatest popular hits along with new songs performed to honor the occasion. Some famous musical friends dropped by and the magical result is Andrea Bocelli - Vivere - Live in Tuscany, premiering this December on PBS.

La primavera della mia vita (2023)

The daring story of two friends, with a common musical past and a future to be written.

Concerto J-Ax + Articolo 31 (2019)

Don Giovanni (1979)

Screen adapatation of Mozart's greatest opera. Don Giovanni, the infamous womanizer, makes one conquest after another until the ghost of Donna Anna's father, the Commendatore, (whom Giovanni killed) makes his appearance. He offers Giovanni one last chance to repent for his multitudinious improprieties. He will not change his ways So, he is sucked down into hell by evil spirits. High drama, hysterical comedy, magnificent music!

La traviata (1982)

This “Traviata” became one of the most succesful of all opera films, especially in France, where 800,000 Parisian cinemagoers flocked to it in the first six week. It was nominated for two Oscars (for production and costume design) and won BAFTAs in those two categories, as well as receiving BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations as 1983’s Best Foreign-Language Film.

Ennio Morricone: Arena concerto (2003)

Questa notte è ancora nostra (2008)

When a producer refuses to cut Massimo and his band a record unless they hire an "ethnic" singer to spice up the act, he tries to seduce Jing, a Chinese girl with a beautiful voice disinterested in both him and rock, to get her on board. She pretends to cave in in order to escape an arranged marriage, but in the weeks preceding the concert the two begin to grow closer, complicating the secretly fake nature of their relationship.

Carosello Carosone (2021)

The life and times of Italian music legend Renato Carosone.

Pino Daniele Live @ RTSI (2006)

Pagliacci (1948)

Pagliacci, is a 1948 Italian film based on Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, directed by Mario Costa. The film stars Tito Gobbi and Gina Lollobrigida. It recounts the tragedy of Canio, the lead clown (or pagliaccio in Italian) in a commedia dell'arte troupe, his wife Nedda, and her lover, Silvio. When Nedda spurns the advances of Tonio, another player in the troupe, he tells Canio about Nedda's betrayal. In a jealous rage Canio murders both Nedda and Silvio. The only actor in the cast who also sang his role was the celebrated Italian baritone, Tito Gobbi, but the film is largely very faithful to its source material, presenting the opera nearly complete.

Scorpions: Acoustica (2001)

"Acoustica" is a 2001 unplugged album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was recorded during three concerts at the Convento do Beato in Lisbon, Portugal, in February 2001. It was a most unusual set for the band, as Klaus Meine comments on the DVD. The band was supported by backing vocalists, a percussionist, an extra guitarist and Christian Kolonovits (who had worked with the band as conductor and arranger on the Moment of Glory album) on keyboards. He also collaborated on rearranging the songs for the acoustic set. The band performed four new songs: "Life Is Too Short", "Back To You", "I Wanted To Cry" and "When Love Kills Love", which was released as single. All the new songs were featured on the DVD, while "Back To You" was not included on the CD. Acoustica also contains cover versions of songs such as The Cars' "Drive", Kansas' "Dust In The Wind" and the Queen hit "Love Of My Life".

Litfiba: El Diablo Tour (1991)

The Metropolitan Opera: Aida (2018)

With its cast of hundreds, thrilling score, and sweeping tale of love and heroics in ancient Egypt, Verdi’s Aida has long been a fixture on the stages of every major opera house in the world. For the 2018 revival of Sonja Frisell’s monumental production of this grand masterpiece, the Met assembled a truly all-star cast. Soprano Anna Netrebko takes on the title role for the first time at the Met, and mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili plays her rival, the conniving princess Amneris. Tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko is Radamès, the warrior that both women love, and Quinn Kelsey lends his robust baritone to Aida’s father, the fallen king Amonasro. Maestro Nicola Luisotti is on the podium to conduct this epic performance, filmed as part of the Met’s series of Live in HD cinema transmissions.

Giovanna d'Arco (2008)

This work predates Thchaikowsly’s for almost 4 years, and it is base don the Schiller play I have previously criticized for its lack of historical accuracy. It is essentially focused on three major voices, soprano, tenor and baritone, with a basso to spice it up. New Yorker Evan Bowers may not be a matinee idol, but he sails into the role with a bright, focused lyrico spinto tenor voice. Renato Bruson was 72 years old in 2008, when he took this role (first sung by him in1989) and it shows, with quite a wobble on many passages; yet his voice commands the stage and rises majestically in the ensembles. And then, Bulgarian Svetla Vassileva, who is not burned at the stake, as in “Maid”, but dies heroically in battle.

Laura Pausini - Fatti Sentire World Tour 2018 (2018)

Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine (2007)

Forever You (2019)