condition (record/cover): M/M (still sealed) Gateford sleeve. Includes 16-page LP-size book. Alberto Savinio (1891-1952), born Andrea Francesco Alberto de Chirico, was the polymorphous younger brother of Giorgio de Chirico – painter, writer, musician, composer, and co-founder of the Scuola Metafisica. This rare Cramps/Multhipla LP (1978) documents the 1976 Milan realization of Les chants de la mi-mort (Songs of the Half-Death), Savinio's 1914 avant-garde operetta originally staged in Apollinaire's Les Soirées de Paris. A total work of art combining music, literature, theatre, and visual design, the piece explores "half-death" – a state suspended between dream and reality. Savinio founded the musical movement Sincerismo, abandoning polyphony for dissonance and rhythm. Pianist Antonio Ballista performs with baritone Alberto Jona under the direction of musicologist Luigi Rognoni, who edited these scores with Ballista.