The names on this tribute testify to the extraordinarily wide appeal of the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone: not many people could get Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Renée Fleming, and Metallica on one disc. And while the artists come from very diverse genres, the album holds together well. Things start off on a syrupy note with Dion's "I Knew I Loved You," a ballad from 1984's Once Upon a Time in America (to which Alan and Marilyn Bergman added lyrics in 2006). But fortunately the CD quickly recovers and goes on to survey most of Morricone's styles, from the dissonance of his spaghetti Western scores to his mod period to his lush orchestral vistas. Metallica goes all out with guitars blazing on "Ecstasy of Gold," a track they've used as a concert intro for years, while Brazil's Daniela Mercury and Eumir Deodato breeze through "Conmigo," and the French-British combo Vanessa and the O's resuscitate the pure '60s pop of "Je Changerai d'Avis," once performed by Françoise Hardy. As for ballads, listen for soprano Renée Fleming, who surpasses her previous pop-crossover attempts on the fragile "Sail Away." Morricone himself couldn't stay away: he wrote interstitial music to create seamless transitions between the tracks, and conducts three instrumental cues. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
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