ConcertoFrontIntroduction

Riccardo Cocciante (20 February 1946) is an Italian singer/songwriter who was born in Saigon (Vietnam) from an Italian father and a French mother. Aged 11 he moved to Rome, where he started singing in clubs from 1968, and using the name Richard Cocciante released several singles from 1971. Signed with RCA Italy Cocciante created his first album “Mu” (1972), a concept work of progressive rock, followed by his second album “Poesia” (1973). Success came with his third album “Anima” (1973), which was arranged by the famous Italian composer Ennio Morricone.

In 1975 Riccardo Cocciante released his fourth album titled “L’Alba”, which includes 5 songs arranged by Lucas Sideras and produced by Vangelis’ brother Niko Papathanassiou.

In the summer of 1976 Riccardo Cocciante traveled to London to record his fifth studio album “Concerto Per Margherita” in Vangelis’ Nemo Studios. Both Cocciante and Vangelis were signed to the RCA record label at the time. Vangelis is credited for arranging the songs on the album, and clearly he plays keyboards on all songs. From all the albums that Vangelis worked on with Italian artists this one really stands out and is definately a personal favourite! As with his first album for RCA “Heaven And Hell”, Vangelis worked again with Guy Protheroe conducting the English Chamber Choir. In Spain the album was also released in a Spanish version as "Concierto Para Margarita". 

To promote the album the 7" single ‘Margherita’ b/w ‘Primavera’ was released in July 1976, and it was an instant success, reaching and holding the top position in Italian charts for 10 consecutive weeks. The song ‘Margherita’ is one of Cocciante best known hits, also outside of Italy, as is illustrated by dozens of artists recording a cover of the song. 

During the 1970s Cocciante continued writing songs with Marco Luberti, releasing the albums “Riccardo Cocciante” (1978) and “...E Io Cante“ (1979). From the 1980s Cocciante started working with Mogol, who wrote the lyrics for many of his songs. Apart from his mainstream songs Riccardo Cocciante also wrote music for theatre, at first for Victor Hugo’s “Notre-Dame De Paris” (1998, Paris), as well as for Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” (2002, Paris) and Shakespeare’s “Romeo And Juliet” (2007, Verona).

 

ConcertoTracklistTracklist and credits

 Concerto Per Margherita  Concierto Para Margarita
  1. Nonostante Tutto (I Parte)
  2. Margherita
  3. Sul Bordo Del Fiume
  4. Inverno
  5. Primavera
  6. Violenza
  7. Ancora
  8. Quando Si Vuole Bene
  9. Quando Me Ne Andrò Da Qui
  10. Nonostante Tutto (II Parte)
  1. A Pesar De Todo
  2. Margarita
  3. En La Orilla Del Río
  4. Invierno
  5. Primavera
  6. Violencia
  7. Otra Vez
  8. Cuando Se Quiere Tanto
  9. Cuando Yo Me Iré De Aquí
  10. A Pesar De Todo

 

  • All songs written by Marco Luberti and Riccardo Cocciante.
  • English Chamber Choir directed by Guy Protheroe.
  • Arranged and engineered by Vangelis.
  • Sound engineer in London: Keith Spencer-Allen
  • Sound mixer in Rome: Tonino Rampotti
  • Produced by Marco Luberti.
  • Sleeve photo based on the painting "Les Styriennes" by Bernhard Grisel.

 

ConciertoParaMargaritaFrontLPDiscography

LP

  • 1976 RCA TPL1 1220 Italy, France, Spain and Israel.
  • 1977 RCA Victor 56044 Spain (‘Especial’) as Richard Cocciante
  • 1983 RCA PL 70141 Germany
  • 2019 BMG/Sony Music 19075939671 Italy (Limited edition with blue vinyl)

as "Concierto Para Margarita"

  • 1976 RCA AVS 4414 Argentina and Uruguay.
  • 1977 PL 31280 Spain (‘Espanol’) as Richard Cocciante, sung in Spanish!

CD

  • 1990 RCA PD 74841 Italy
  • 1998 RCA 74321 625122 Italy
  • 2000 BMG Ricordi/RCA 74321 764832 Italy (I Discho D’Oro remastered digipack)
  • 2001 BMG Ricordi/RCA 74321 1846892 Europe (remastered)
  • 2003 Panorama PACD0327 Italy (with magazine Panorama)
  • 2007 RCA BBCD04 Italy (La Grande Musica Italiani)
  • 2011 BMG Ricordi 88697905292 Italy
  • 2016 Sony Music 88985361282-6 Italy
  • 2020 BMG Italy (I Grandi Album Italiani 1970-2000) digipack with magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni e Donna Moderna.
  • BMG Ricordi/RCA Italy (with magazine TV Sorrisi e Canzoni no.3)

as "Concierto Para Margarita"

Note that the CD issued in France as "Concerto Pour Marguerite" has a new arrangement, it does not contain Vangelis' music.

CD single

  • 1999 Margherita / Primavera (RCA 74321 649742) Italy 

MargaritaFrontS7” single

  • 1977 Margherita / Primavera (RCA TPBO 1243) Italy, Spain and Germany.
  • 1977 Margherita / Primavera  (RCA 101.7107) Brazil and Argentina.
  • 1977 Margarita / Primavera (RCA PB-6045) Spain (sung in Spanish)
  • 1978 Margarita / En La Orilla Del Rio (CRS-002) Chile (sung in Spanish)
  • 1977 Margherita / Primavera / Michelle / Lucia EP (RCA 102.7033) Brazil
  • 1983 Margherita / Primavera (RCA PB 6719) Italy (with ‘Ariston’ cover)
  • 1984 Primavera / Margherita (RCA 101.7171) Brazil (Tema Da Novela "Partido Alto")

 

Recording studio

The music for this album was recorded at Nemo Studios in London.

 

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