''Gioielli rubati– Alice canta Battiato'' is the seventh studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Alice, released in 1985 on

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

History

The album, whose title translates as ''Stolen Jewels – Alice sings Battiato'', followed the highly successful 1984 single and

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

entry "

I treni di Tozeur "I treni di Tozeur" ("The trains of Tozeur") is an Italian song, written by Franco Battiato, and Giusto Pio. It was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984, performed in Italian (with some lyrics in German) by Alice and Battiato. In a st ...

", a duet with the composer. ''Gioielli rubati'' includes songs from Battiato's pop albums ''

L'era del cinghiale bianco ''L'era del cinghiale bianco'' (Italian: "The Era of the White Boar") is an album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato. It was released in 1979 by the label EMI ''Italiana''. This album marks the return of Battiato to pop, after a peri ...

'' (1979), '' Patriots'' (1980), ''

La voce del padrone La voce del padrone was the Italian label for the His Master's Voice recording house. The house belonged to The Gramophone Company Ltd., of Hayes (Middlesex, United Kingdom) which owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel ...

'' (1981), '' L'arca di Noè'' (1982) and '' Orizzonti perduti'' (1983). "Luna indiana" ("Indian Moon"), loosely based on

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's "

Moonlight Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name ''Mo ...

" and originally largely instrumental had new lyrics penned by Francesco Messina, partly spoken and partly sung by Alice. Just like the preceding single "I treni di Tozeur", the album prominently features strings courtesy of the opera house

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

, arranged and conducted by classical composer Roberto Cacciapaglia. The opening track "Prospettiva Nevski", minutely detailing a cold winter's day at

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt (street), Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg in Russian Federation, ...

in the early 20th century, became Alice's best-selling solo single in Continental Europe and Scandinavia since her breakthrough with

Sanremo music festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

winner "Per Elisa" in 1981, and despite the fact that it originally was recorded by Battiato, it today counts as one of her signature tunes in Italy. Further single releases from the ''Gioielli rubati'' album include "Summer on A Solitary Beach", "Luna Indiana" and "Il Re del Mondo". Franco Battiato himself released the album '' Mondi lontanissimi'' the same year, which also included a new version of "Il Re del Mondo" as well as solo interpretations of "I treni di Tozeur" and "Chan-son Egocentrique", both previously recorded as duets with Alice. A re-recorded version of "Prospettiva Nevski" with the

London Session Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

was included in the 2000 career retrospective ''

Personal Jukebox The Personal Jukebox (also known as ''PJB-100'' or ''Music Compressor'') was the first consumer hard drive-based digital audio player. Introduced in 1999, it preceded the Apple iPod, SanDisk Sansa, and other similar players. It was designed and d ...

''. The ''Gioielli rubati'' album is not to be confused with the EMI budget compilation ''Alice canta Battiato'' which comprises material recorded between the years 1980 and 1987, released in 1997 after the artist had left the label and signed with Warner Music.

Track listing

;Side A #"Prospettiva Nevski" (

Franco Battiato Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes, a ...

) – 3:39 #"Il Re del Mondo" (Franco Battiato) – 2:57 #"Mal d'Africa" (Franco Battiato) – 2:56 #Segnali di vita" (Franco Battiato) – 3:35 #"Le aquile" (

Fleur Jaeggy Fleur Jaeggy (born 31 July 1940) is a Swiss author who writes in Italian. ''The'' ''Times Literary Supplement'' named ''Proleterka'' as a Best Book of the Year upon its US publication, and her ''Sweet Days of Discipline'' won the Premio Bagut ...

, Franco Battiato) – 2:55 ;Side B #"Summer on a Solitary Beach" (Franco Battiato) – 4:32 #"Gli uccelli" (Franco Battiato) – 4:07 #"Un'altra vita" (Franco Battiato) – 3:31 #"Luna indiana" (Francesco Messina, Franco Battiato) – 3:22

Personnel

* Alice – lead vocals * Aldo Banfi – computers, keyboards, drum machines * Michele Fedrigotti – keyboards * Orchestra della Scala di Milano (The

Orchestra, Milan) –

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

s, woodwind instruments

Production

* Angelo Carrara – record producer * Roberto Cacciapaglia – musical arranger,

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

* Recorded at Studio Sette,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

(February 1985) * Franco Zorzi –

* Mixed at The Power Station Studios, New York (March 1985) * Jeff Friedriekson – sound engineer * Francesco Messina –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

* Gik Piccardi – photography

External links

* {{Authority control 1985 albums Alice (singer) albums EMI Records albums Italian-language albums