'Monte Bettolgi Uses Marble Quarry Sounds for Techno-Opera 'Il Capo'

The intricate art of extracting sounds from the environment and using them for composition is its own work of art. And for a recent spot at Aeon Video, the techno-opera "Il Capo," of marble being extracted from an Italian quarry is a new idea in the face of opera and composition. It is not the first installation of field recordings but the idea is original. With the epic and destructive sounds of marble being harvested from a quarry, the idea of making it a musical composition is astounding. Just like a score for a movie from the likes of Johnny Greenwood, it is like an orchestra all its own, with the crashing sounds of marble that emulates something sinister just like the breaking of Arctic ice. The film depicts quarrymen working on the Monte Bettolgi in the Carrara region of the Apuan Alps in northwest Italy. The Italian director, Yuri Ancarani, followed a marble quarry boss as he led his men through tedious work and using a silent language of hand gestures to complete the dig.