''Rapsodia Satanica'' is a 1915 Italian silent film directed by

Nino Oxilia Nino Oxilia (13 November 1889 – 18 November 1917) was an Italian playwright, screenwriter and film director.Moliterno p. 258 His 1911 play '' Goodbye Youth'' was turned into several films. He also wrote the first lyrics for the song "Giovinezz ...

featuring

Lyda Borelli Lyda Cini, Countess of Monselice (née Borelli, 22 March 1884 – 2 June 1959) was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. Her career in theatre started when she was a child, acting on stage with Paola Pezzaglia in the French drama ''I du ...

in a female version of Faust based on poems by .

Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece ''Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ' ...

wrote his only film music for the film and conducted the first performance in July 1917. Mascagni was keen to take commission for the film music due to the financial burden of supporting two sickening brothers.Alan Mallach ''Pietro Mascagni and His Operas'' 2002 1555535240 -Page 214 "With few other immediate sources of income at hand, the forty-five thousand lire from Cines for Rapsodia satanica, as well as the fifty thousand promised for a second film score, were much on his mind." The French-German TV channel

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

restored the film in 2006 and

Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz The Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate) is the largest and leading symphony orchestra of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, based in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. It gives concerts in Rhineland-Palatin ...

, conducted by

Frank Strobel Frank Strobel (born in 1966 in Munich) is a German conductor known for premieres and performances of works by composers Sergei Prokofiev, Franz Schreker and Siegfried Wagner. He is authorized arranger and editor of works by the composer Alfred ...

recorded Mascagni's score.

Cast

as Contessa Alba d'Oltrevita *

Andrea Habay Andrea Habay (1883–1941) was a French film actor. Habay appeared in more forty films during the silent era, mostly in Italy. He also directed three films during the early 1920s. He played the role of Petronius in the 1924 epic '' Quo Vadis'',S ...

as Tristano * Ugo Bazzini as Mephisto * Giovanni Cini as Sergio

References

External links

* 1915 films Italian silent feature films The Devil in film Films about wish fulfillment Italian black-and-white films Silent horror films {{Italy-silent-film-stub