Latte e Miele are one of the boldest of all the classically-minded Italian progressive bands — a Genoa power trio, formed when its drummer was barely sixteen, whose 1972 debut “Passio Secundum Mattheum” set the Passion of Christ to a thrilling blend of Bach, rock and opera. Few young bands ever reached so high, and their best records remain landmarks of RPI.

The short version

Formed in Genoa in 1971, Latte e Miele were a classically informed power trio in the mould of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Le Orme. Their debut, “Passio Secundum Mattheum” (1972) — an ambitious concept album on the Gospel of Matthew, complete with operatic chorus — became one of the seminal records of Italian prog, and the following year’s “Papillon” came close to matching it. Technically dazzling and brimming with classical ambition, they are a much-loved name of the genre.

Genoa, 1971: a teenage power trio

Latte e Miele came together in Genoa in 1971, founded by guitarist Marcello Giancarlo Dellacasa — fresh from playing on I Giganti’s concept album “Terra in Bocca” — alongside keyboardist Oliviero Lacagnina and a drummer, Alfio Vitanza, who was only sixteen years old. Taking their name from the biblical “land of milk and honey”, the three young Genoese musicians made their mark on the festival circuit, at events like Villa Pamphili and Viareggio Pop, before signing to Polydor. They soon caught the prog world’s attention opening for Van der Graaf Generator, whose music had found a particularly devoted audience in Italy.

Rocking the classics

Latte e Miele were among the most classically ambitious of all Italian bands. Working in the keyboard-trio tradition of ELP and Le Orme, they built their music on the great composers — Bach above all, but also Beethoven and Ravel — fused with rock, jazz, Latin-rock and operatic choirs and vocals. Lacagnina commanded a wide array of keyboards, Dellacasa moved fluidly between electric, acoustic and classical guitar, and even violin, while the prodigiously gifted young Vitanza drove it all from the drums. If the early trio formula could occasionally feel repetitive, the musicianship was never in doubt, and at their best they were genuinely breathtaking.

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Passio, Papillon and beyond

Latte e Miele’s debut, “Passio Secundum Mattheum” (1972), is their defining work — a concept album telling the Passion of Christ across a dozen short movements, with music inspired by Bach, narrated passages from the Gospel and the participation of the famous La Scala opera chorus. Remarkably, the trio performed it before Pope Paul VI in 1973, becoming the first rock band to play for a pontiff. The following year’s “Papillon” (1973) offered another ambitious concept in a similar style but with far richer production, its second side built around a piece derived from Beethoven’s “Pathétique”; an English-language version was also recorded. After the original trio split, drummer Vitanza reformed the band, and a new line-up made “Aquile e Scoiattoli” (1976), best remembered for its sprawling twenty-three-minute suite “Pavana”, before the group gradually drifted toward a more commercial sound.

Album by album

Three albums of classically charged Italian prog. Tap any title for its guide.

The players and afterwards

Latte e Miele’s classic line-up was the trio of keyboardist Oliviero Lacagnina, guitarist and bassist Marcello Dellacasa and drummer Alfio Vitanza. For the 1976 album, Vitanza reformed the band with new musicians, among them bassist Massimo Gori, before the group moved toward pop and eventually disbanded in the early 1980s — even reaching the Sanremo Festival with a late single. The three founders reunited in 2008, touring and recording once more, and in 2014 returned to their masterpiece with a fully re-recorded, expanded version of “Passio Secundum Mattheum”, a fitting tribute to the work that made their name.

Where to start

Begin with “Passio Secundum Mattheum” (1972), their landmark debut and one of the most ambitious records of early Italian prog, where Bach, rock and opera meet. From there, “Papillon” (1973) is its better-produced equal and well worth seeking out, while “Aquile e Scoiattoli” (1976) offers the fine, side-long “Pavana” for those who want more.

Why they still matter

Latte e Miele matter as one of the most daring of all the classically-minded Italian bands — a trio of very young musicians who, on “Passio Secundum Mattheum”, reached for something genuinely grand and largely pulled it off. Their fusion of Baroque and classical music with rock helped define one of the most distinctive strands of RPI, and their best albums remain cherished by fans of symphonic prog the world over. For anyone exploring the Italian scene’s love affair with the classics, Latte e Miele are essential.

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