Ettore Stratta

During the 1990s primarily, conductor and producer Ettore Stratta forged a discography centered on transforming assorted strands of popular repertoire into orchestral settings conceived along symphonic lines. His efforts occasionally turned toward Latin American material, resulting in releases such as Symphonic Boleros, Symphonic Tango, and Symphonic Bossa Nova. On other occasions he assembled cohesive programs by pairing compatible standards drawn from jazz and pop catalogs, yielding mood-consistent albums including A Sentimental Journey and the 2000 collection As Time Goes By: Great Love Songs of the 20th Century. More narrowly focused projects also appeared, among them a salute to science-fiction film scores titled Music From the Galaxies and, in a curious turn, Symphonic Elvis, captured with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Stratta worked with ensembles ranging from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra to the Fantasy Strings. Well after the millennium arrived he maintained a steady pace of activity.