During his long career, Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979—an average of three scores each year over a 46-year period, and in his most productive period from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s he wrote as many as ten scores every year, and sometimes more, with a remarkable thirteen film scores to his credit in 1954. Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto. He also composed the music for many theatre productions by Visconti, Zeffirelli and Eduardo De Filippo as well as maintaining a long teaching career at the Liceo Musicale in Bari, Italy, where he was the director for almost 30 years.
Rota was born Giovanni Rota Rinaldi on 3 December 1911, into a musical family in Milan. Rota was a renowned child prodigy—his first oratorio, L'infanzia di San Giovanni Battista, was written at age 11 and performed in Milan and Paris as early as 1923; his three-act lyrical comedy after Hans Christian Andersen, Il Principe Porcaro, was composed when he was just 13 and published in 1926. He studied at the Milan conservatory there under Giacomo Orefice and then undertook serious study of composition under Ildebrando Pizzetti and Alfredo Casella at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome, graduating in 1930.
Encouraged by Arturo Toscanini, Rota moved to the United States where he lived from 1930 to 1932. He won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, where he was taught conducting by Fritz Reiner and had Rosario Scalero as an instructor in composition. Returning to Milan, he wrote a thesis on the Renaissance composer Gioseffo Zarlino. Rota earned a degree in literature from the University of Milan, graduating in 1937, and began a teaching career that led to the directorship of the Liceo Musicale in Bari, a title he held from 1950 until 1978.
Rota had one daughter, Nina Rota, from a relationship with pianist Magda Longari. He died, age 67, from a coronary thrombosis in Rome.
L'ultimo bidone
Nino Rota Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
y venga de donde tus padres menos
quieren!!
pero asi quiero quererte quiero lucharte! .
para merecerte vamos niña dame un chance!!
con millones de abrazos caricias y besos puedo enamorarte!!
este loco quiere conquistarte!!!!
mi niña bonita te quiero querer y quiero que tu me quieras tambien!!mi niña bonita te quiero besar y quiero que tu me beses tambien.
me beses tambien!!!!
mi niña bonita!!!
quisas yo sea la persona que tu!!!!!!
quieresaunque te digan que no soy quien'!
te conviene no tengo todo lo q mereces!!!!!
pero quiero demostrarte con un poco de'!!
mi ser q el corazon puedo robarte con!!!
millones abrazos caricias y besos puedo!!!
enamorarte este loco quiere conquistarte!
mi niña bonita te quiero querer y quiero q!!
tu me quieras tambien mi niña bonita te!!
quiero besar y quiero q tu me beses
The song L'ultimo bidone by Nino Rota is about a man who wants to win the affection of a woman who he feels is out of his league. He acknowledges that he may not have much to offer her and that he comes from a background that her parents may not approve of. However, he is determined to fight for her and prove his worth. He promises to shower her with love and affection, in the form of hugs, caresses, and kisses, in hopes of winning her over. He declares his love for her and asks for a chance to prove himself.
The lyrics express the universal desire to win someone's heart, even when faced with the odds stacked against us. The song speaks to the idea that love knows no boundaries and can transcend socioeconomic or cultural differences. It also emphasizes the power of determination and perseverance in pursuing love.
Nino Rota was an Italian composer best known for his film scores, including the iconic music for The Godfather. L'ultimo bidone was written as a theme for a film of the same name that Rota composed the score for in 1955.
Line by Line Meaning
Talvez si yo no tenga nada pa ' ofrecerte!!
Maybe I don't have anything to offer you!!
y venga de donde tus padres menos quieren!!
And I come from where your parents least want!!
pero asi quiero quererte quiero lucharte! .
But this is how I want to love you, I want to fight for you!
para merecerte vamos niña dame un chance!!
To deserve you, come on girl, give me a chance!!
con millones de abrazos caricias y besos puedo enamorarte!!
With millions of hugs, caresses, and kisses I can make you fall in love!!
este loco quiere conquistarte!!!!
This crazy guy wants to conquer you!!
mi niña bonita te quiero querer y quiero que tu me quieras tambien!!
My beautiful girl, I want to love you and I want you to love me too!!
mi niña bonita te quiero besar y quiero que tu me beses tambien.
My beautiful girl, I want to kiss you and I want you to kiss me too.
me beses tambien!!!!
Kiss me too!!!!
mi niña bonita!!!
My beautiful girl!!!
quisas yo sea la persona que tu!!!!!!
Maybe I am the person that you!!!!!!
quieresaunque te digan que no soy quien'!
You want me, even if they say I'm not the one!!
te conviene no tengo todo lo q mereces!!!!!
It's better for you, I don't have everything you deserve!!!!!
pero quiero demostrarte con un poco de'!!
But I want to show you with a little bit of'!!
mi ser q el corazon puedo robarte con!!!
My being that I can steal your heart with!!!
millones abrazos caricias y besos puedo!!!
Millions of hugs, caresses, and kisses I can!!
enamorarte este loco quiere conquistarte!
Make you fall in love, this crazy guy wants to conquer you!
mi niña bonita te quiero querer y quiero q!! tu me quieras tambien mi niña bonita te!!
My beautiful girl, I want to love you and I want you to love me too, my beautiful girl I want to!
quiero besar y quiero q tu me beses
I want to kiss you and I want you to kiss me.
Contributed by Cooper W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.