Morricone has, in recent years, made numerous concert appearances, performing live versions of his most popular film compositions – although never in America until now. Friday, February 2, in a private concert at the United Nations, and Saturday, February 3, at Radio City Music Hall, he made his U.S. concert debut, conducting the 100-piece Rome Sinfonietta Orchestra and a 100-voice choir (including the Canticum Novum Singers, the New York Virtuoso Singers and the University of Buffalo choir).

The timing couldn't have been better: Morricone will receive an honorary Academy Award on Feb. 25 "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." (It's hard to believe that he has only been nominated five times for the Oscar – for Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Bugsy and Malena – and never won.)

Friday's event was held in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations complex. An estimated 1,600 delegates, diplomats and UN staff members attended the event, which was not open to the public, although members of the press were allowed. Preceding the music were 45 minutes of remarks by UN officials and a handful of celebrities.

The UN's new Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said that he had just returned from an 11-day, nine-country trip just hours earlier but, he said, "this was one concert I could not miss." And, because Morricone's music was "full of drama," he quipped that the maestro's scores could serve as "the soundtrack for my first few weeks in office."

Actor Eli Wallach (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) was the first of the celebrities to speak, addressing "my dear and esteemed Ennio" before discussing one of several UN "millenium development goals" eradicating poverty around the world. West African singer Angelique Kidjo talked about "creating a better world for children"; guitarist Pat Metheny discussed the "greed, ignorance and neglect" that had brought about global climate change; and Lou Reed interrupted his own talk about the importance of readily available drinking water to issue a plea for the U.S. to "get out of Iraq!"

Italian UN representative Marcello Spatafora introduced Morricone as a "master of the universal language of music," citing his innovative spirit. He explained that the program's first piece, Voci dal Silenzio ("Voices From the Silence"), was written in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks but was intended to give voice "to all those innocent victims of violence, especially in forgotten or unknown tragedies."

A standing ovation greeted Morricone, who bowed but did not speak. Voci dal Silenzio, a 28-minute cantata for orchestra, choir, voice and prerecorded sounds, harks back to Morricone's long-held penchant for the musical avant-garde: eerie string and woodwind figures suggesting the cries of the victims; recorded voices of children, native chants and drums; complex, dissonant sounds of battle; moods that range from dramatic to melancholy; and, interestingly, a theme from The Mission near the end of the piece, perhaps suggesting the role of music in overcoming the world's evils.

Morricone also conducted a 13-minute medley of scores that accompanied two of his most powerful political films: Casualties of War, the Brian DePalma film about Vietnam War atrocities, and Burn!, Gillo Pontecorvo's film about European colonialism in a 19th-century Caribbean nation. The latter, the choral "Abolicao," was especially exciting with its five percussionists playing Latin rhythms.

The remainder of the concert was a virtual dress rehearsal for the next evening's performance. Morricone conducted a medley of themes including The Sicilian Clan and Maddalena, then a suite from The Mission. As an encore, he conducted his medley of music from Sergio Leone westerns.(here)

The concert, held in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York, featured a 170-piece symphony orchestra and polyphonic choir performing pieces based on original scores which were composed, orchestrated and conducted by Mr. Morricone.

Selections included the composition “Voci dal Silenzio” (“Voices from Silences”) which he wrote after the events of 11 September 2001 and is in memory of victims of all massacres throughout history.

Mr. Morricone, who is set to receive an Honorary Academy Award this month to celebrate his many contributions to cinematic music, dedicated tonight’s performance to all UN staff.

Mr. Ban paid tribute to Mr. Morricone and his musicians “for recognizing the valiant work carried out by our men and women around the world – for peace, for human rights, for the environment, for the Millennium Development Goals.” These targets, known as MDGs, were agreed to at a 2000 UN Summit and aim to slash a host of global ills such as poverty and illiteracy by the year 2015.

“Maestro Morricone, all of us working on these formidable tasks deeply appreciate this gesture of solidarity,” the Secretary-General said.

In his prolific career, Mr. Morricone has scored over 450 movies and television programmes. He is a five-time Oscar nominee for the music he composed for “Days of Heaven,” “The Mission,” “The Untouchables,” “Bugsy” and “Malena.”

He also helped to define the spaghetti western genre, having collaborated with famed Italian film director Sergio Leone on such movies as “A Fistful of Dollars.” Other well-known Morricone scores include “Nuevo Cinema Paradiso,” “Once Upon a Time in America” and “The Legend of 1900,” for which he won a Golden Globe Award.

Mr. Ban praised Mr. Morricone’s drama-filled compositions which have “been used to tell stories about people with big dreams,” but has also showed us “the good, the bad and the ugly,” borrowing the title of one of Mr. Morricone’s most famous films.

“In other words, your music could serve as the soundtrack for my first few weeks in office!” joked Mr. Ban, whose tenure as Secretary-General began on 1 January.(here)