Italian composer Ennio Morricone has canceled three North American tour dates because of ongoing health concerns, reports Variety.
The legendary 85-year-old maestro, whose prolific legacy includes classics “The Good The Bad and the Ugly” (1966) and “A Fistful of Dollars” (1964) along with more recent films like Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” (2009) and “Django Unchained” (2013), suffered a back injury this past March that required surgery to repair a slipped disk. Due to the incident and ensuing procedure, Morricone had postponed until June the two concerts scheduled to take place that month in Los Angeles and New York.
Members of the 75-person choir scheduled to perform with Morricone, along with a 100-player orchestra, at Brooklyn’s Cushman & Wakefield Theater at Barclays Center (June 13), L.A. Live’s Nokia Theatre (June 15),and Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional (June 18), were informed that Morricone had canceled the concerts due to “serious health issues.”
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Sources say the rest of his 21-date tour across Europe from late June to next March will likely be canceled as well.
“It saddens me deeply to have to postpone these concerts,” Morricone said of his first round of concert cancellations in March. “I am very much looking forward to my first Los Angeles performance and only my second New York City performance, both of which are almost sold out. Hollywood has been instrumental in bringing my work to American audiences, and my 2007 performance in New York was one of the high points of my career to date. I’m grateful and sorry to my fans for having to delay these shows. I’ll miss you, and I look forward to seeing you soon.”
After receiving five Oscar nominations for Best Musical Score between 1979 and 2001, Morricone was given an honorary Oscar in 2007, for lifetime achievement. He has also won nine David di Donatello awards, Italy’s highest film honors.