Il Balletto di Bronzo are one of the towering names of Italian progressive rock — a Naples band whose 1972 masterpiece “Ys” stands among the darkest, heaviest and most dramatic records the genre ever produced. Dominated by the extraordinary keyboards of Gianni Leone, it is a cornerstone of RPI, mentioned in the same breath as the very greatest Italian albums.

The short version

Formed in Naples in 1969, Il Balletto di Bronzo made just two studio albums — and they could hardly be more different. The first, “Sirio 2222” (1970), is a guitar-driven slice of late-1960s beat and heavy psych. The second, “Ys” (1972), made after keyboardist Gianni Leone joined and transformed the band, is a fearsomely intense, keyboard-heavy concept masterpiece, and one of the essential records of Italian prog.

Naples, 1969: two albums, two bands

Il Balletto di Bronzo grew out of a Naples hard-rock group of the late 1960s, originally called Battitori Selvaggi. As Il Balletto di Bronzo, with singer-guitarist Marco Cecioni, guitarist Lino Ajello, bassist Michele Cupaiolo and drummer Giancarlo Stinga, they recorded their debut, “Sirio 2222”, in 1970. Then, in 1971, everything changed: Cecioni and Cupaiolo left, and in came bassist Vito Manzari and, crucially, the keyboardist and vocalist Gianni Leone — formerly of the original Città Frontale. Together with Ajello and Stinga, this new quartet pointed the band in a radically different, far more ambitious direction.

Dark, keyboard-driven intensity

With Gianni Leone aboard, Il Balletto di Bronzo became one of the heaviest and most dramatic bands of the Italian scene. Leone wielded a vast arsenal of keyboards — organ, Moog, Mellotron, harpsichord, celesta, piano — to conjure dark, mysterious, almost medieval atmospheres, set against Lino Ajello’s extremely heavy guitar. The result was symphonic prog of frightening intensity: dissonant, anguished, relentless, with few moments of respite. It was a world away from the beat and blues-rock of their debut — far closer to the boldest, most extreme music being made anywhere in prog.

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Ys: a masterpiece

The band’s second album, “Ys” (1972), is their towering achievement, and one of the greatest records in all of RPI. A concept album, it takes its name from the legend of Ys, a mythical lost city of Brittany, and tells a surreal, bleak tale: the last surviving man on Earth, burdened with a terrible truth and desperate to pass it on, is stripped of his senses one by one by a supernatural force until he meets his death. Across its linked movements — from the “Introduzione” through a series of “Incontri” — Leone’s keyboards and Ajello’s guitar build an overwhelming, harrowing intensity. Among its four backing vocalists was a singer who would later find fame as Giuni Russo. A fully recorded English-language version was, intriguingly, never completed. Overlooked at the time, “Ys” has since been recognised as a true masterpiece.

Album by album

Two albums — a heavy-psych debut and a prog masterpiece. Tap any title for its guide.

The players and afterwards

The classic, “Ys”-era line-up centred on keyboardist and singer Gianni Leone, with guitarist Lino Ajello, bassist Vito Manzari and drummer Giancarlo Stinga — the latter two of the early band’s “survivors” alongside Ajello. Il Balletto di Bronzo split in 1973, with Gianni Leone going on to a brief solo career under the name Leo Nero, and the others eventually moving abroad. Decades later, Leone revived the band, keeping the legacy of “Ys” alive through intense touring, especially in Japan and Mexico, and new recordings. To this day, Il Balletto di Bronzo remains, above all, the vehicle for his singular vision.

Where to start

There is one essential album, and it is “Ys” (1972) — a demanding but extraordinary listen, and one of the peaks of Italian prog; give it time and it rewards enormously. For something completely different, the rare debut “Sirio 2222” (1970) offers a guitar-driven taste of late-1960s Italian heavy psych. But it is for “Ys” that the band will always be remembered.

Why they still matter

Il Balletto di Bronzo matter for one of the greatest albums Italian progressive rock ever produced. Once you move past the famous “big three” of PFM, Le Orme and Banco, “Ys” stands among the most important and rewarding records in all of RPI — a dark, intense, uncompromising masterpiece built around the genius of Gianni Leone. That the band made it after a debut as different as “Sirio 2222” only adds to their fascination. For anyone serious about Italian prog, Il Balletto di Bronzo, and “Ys” above all, are essential.

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