Italian composer Paolo Buonvino delved deep into the musical heritage of his native Sicily to create the score for Netflix’s sumptuous “The Leopard” series, which has been steadily gaining global fans since dropping in March.
The high-end period piece, which marks the streamer’s biggest splash in Italy so far, is a modern take on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Set against the backdrop of social revolution in 1860s Sicily, it was famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The film, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival.
The series is lead-directed by Britain’s Tom Shankland and stars top model Deva Cassel — who is Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter — as Angelica Sedara, the stunning middle-class woman who becomes a catalyst of social disruption and was played by Cardinale in the original. Italy’s Kim Rossi Stewart (“Romanzo Criminale”) plays Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, who in the masterpiece movie was played by Lancaster; while Saul Nanni (“Love & Gelato”) stars as the prince’s nephew Tancredi Falconeri, played by Delon in the film. Benedetta Porcaroli (“Baby”) plays Concetta, his cousin who is madly in love with Tancredi.
Buonvino, who is known for his work with top Italian directors such as Gabriele Muccino, Paolo Virzi and Roberto Faenza, did lots of ethnomusicological research, immersing himself in the musical traditions of his native island. “I explored songs, instruments and historical sources of the time,” he says.
Below, Buonvino speaks to Variety about how he put his stamp on this Italian classic.
Simply put, did you feel intimidated by this task?
I felt a huge responsibility, yes, mainly because the novel is a European literature classic. Plus, it’s set in Sicily and I’m Sicilian, so I wanted to steer clear of stereotypes. Then there is obviously the fact that Visconti’s film adaptation [with a score by Nino Rota] is so iconic.
Talk to me about capturing the essence of Sicily. Of course besides the sensuality, there is the history. How did you navigate all that?
When I was called to do this job, I came up with the following thoughts: First of all, I want to depict the island where the story takes place, as if you can smell it through the music. Secondly, I imagined how I wanted to depict the prince’s family, with its ties to the bourgeoisie and the other noblemen and what was going on historically. And thirdly, we were depicting a revolution that has two aspects: one has to do with [Giuseppe] Garibaldi and his conquest of Sicily that led to the unification of Italy. The other is the sociological revolution that sees Don Calogero Sedara [father of Angelica, played by Cassel] who is climbing up the social ladder and eroding power from the aristocracy. On top of all this, there is a mysticism of sorts that I wanted to capture tied to the prince and his soul searching, especially toward the end.
Talk to me about how your work on Sicilian musical history germinated compositions for the show’s score.
There are two traditional Sicilian songs spawned by my research: one is “Spunta lu Suli,” the first track on the show. It’s a love song about a very strong desire for another person that struck me for two reasons. One is that it’s sung by a woman, which was quite unusual for that time in Sicily. This passionate love in the [Visconti] film is told through the figure of Concetta, who rebels against her father and is very strong-willed. But there is another aspect of this infatuation, which is the prince who looks at his land, Sicily, with the eyes of a lover. Then there is the song “Si Fussi Aceddu” with which the show ends, when Concetta takes the family reins. I chose this piece as a closer, instead a piece about family – which could have been a waltz or something heroic – because it is sung by a woman. Again, the song is about a very strong desire to fall in love. And I thought it was right because Concetta in “The Leopard” has given up on love. I liked the thought of expressing the idea that she is saying: “OK, I will take the family reins — but my heart would like to take the reins of something greater, which is to be with my beloved.”
And now the waltz in the dance scene, the film’s iconic moment. How did you handle that?
I said to Tom: “I’d like to compose it myself.” Not because of an ego thing. But because in that dance I’d like to capture the essence of “The Leopard” and his life. I liked the idea that this dance could be cathartic, even in the music. As though the prince could rewind the tape of his life while he was dancing, and it wasn’t just a joyful or a sterile — albeit very beautiful — waltz, but something tied to his existence. So I told Tom these things, and asked him to listen to the beginning of what I had in mind, which I had also infused with Sicily. He told me: “We are twins!” It coincided with his vision. So we used that as our starting point.
Netflix
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
