IL DUCE AVANTI

Description

Includes the English translation to Benito Mussolini’s address of October 2, 1935 in which he offers rebuttal to sanctions against Italy imposed by the League of Nations.

Share a moment in history with the  Italian fascist soldier on the front where the sound of rousing martial music gave new strength to flagging morale or in a bomb shelter with civilians where encouraging music calmed racing hearts. More then a CD its an audio history lesson of WWII, Benito Mussolin and hisrevived Fascist Italy.. Il Duce Avanti Includes the English translation to Benito Mussolini’s address of October 2, 1935 in which he offers rebuttal to sanctions against Italy imposed by the League of Nations.

The packaging for “Il Duce Avanti” is particularly striking for its use of artwork from Fascism’s Salo Republic period. This was a short-lived but intensely fought epoch that began with Mussolini’s rescue from atop his mountain-top prison in September 1943 until his death less than two years later. This  cover is a reproduction of a recruitment poster for the Italian Waffen-SS formed shortly after his liberation, just as the inside photograph shows the Duce visiting volunteers of the Monterosa Division in Germany, where they were being trained. The men who served in this late-war resurgence of Fascism were intimately familiar with all the marches and anthems featured on the CD. As such, even pre-war compositions were resuscitated and performed with new emphasis, especially those pieces from the early days of days of revolutionary fervour, like All’Armi and Marcia su Roma. The CD provides an historical scope seldom found in albums of this kind, because its selections extend over time from Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia. Listeners will be particularly interested to hear an English language broadcast of victory celebrations recorded “live” in Rome by a lady radio reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation. But it is the music which sounds new to our ears, because it has not been heard for more than 70 years. It is still outlawed in Italy, making these banned compositions all the more intriguing. Their reproduction quality is extraordinarily clear, and lacks nothing for technical excellence. As such, “Il Duce Avanti” provides an uncommon listening experience, a lucid echo of the past to be enjoyed over and over again. After hearing this rousing, brightly Mediterranean music, you will never been able to look at photographs of Fascist Italy in the same way. Instead, the images frozen in time assume a human dimension only these authentic songs and marches, performed and sung by the men who made history, can lend them.

TITLES ON THIS CD:

From original Third Reich Recordings

1. Mussolini speech October 2, 1935 2:03
2. Giovinezza 3:21
3. All Armi 2:42
4. Il Canto Del Volontari D’ Africa 2:24
5. Figli Della Italiane 2:18
6. Marcia Della Legioni 3:51
7. Inno A Roma 3:20
8. A Tripoli 1:17
9. Adua 2:24
10. Africa Nostra 3:00
11. In Africa Si Va 2:25
12. Battaglioni M 2:26
13. Africanella 2:30
14. O Morettina 3:02
15. C’era Una Volta Il Negus 2:53
16. Povero Selassle’ 4:34
17. Ti Saluto E Vado in Abessinia 2:34
18. Il Passo Della Corsa 1:14
19. Faccetta Nera 1:49
20. La Bandiera Tricolore 2:16
21. Il Rittorno Del Legionario 2:02
22. Cantate Del Legionari 2:30
23. Mussolini speech May 5, 1936 + English broadcast 1:42
24. Marcia Su Roma 2:11

TOTAL PLAYING TIME 61:46