Review by John P. Harvey.

In the year 1800, Teresa (Galatéa Bellugi), who is bound to secrecy over her past, serves as under-appreciated help in a church-run orphanage for girls that is just like hundreds of other orphanages around rural France.  The orphanage trains the girls in music, with the help of its attached priest, Perlina (Paolo Ross).  The girls have little genuine respect for Perlina, as his pretentiousness exceeds his musicianship; but their innate ability has them rehearsing their music with great skill.

Teresa is not the only one with secrets.  One of the girls has a secret beau whom she expects to marry, and Perlina… well, Perlina has a few nasty secrets, including that he has hidden a new musical device that has arrived at the orphanage: a pianoforte.  The instrument was intended for the girls, but he doesn’t mean them to have it.

Ironically, Perlina’s casual expectation that Teresa should do all the muck work leads Teresa to discover the piano and its marvels.  And when that leads a group of the girls to experiment on the piano, something exciting begins to emerge.

In the meantime, though, Perlina, warned that he must produce a composition in readiness for a possible papal visit by Pius VII, begins acting with increasing desperation, putting loves and even lives on the line.

This is much of the setup; but the story as it evolves from there is an intricate, beautifully constructed tale that pits prejudice against principle, tradition against invention, and narrow self interest against cooperation — not to mention contrasting the religious works of the classic masters against the secular explosions of the orphanage’s young musicians.

Margherita Vicario not only co-wrote (with Anita Rivaroli) the screenplay for this, her directorial feature debut, but also co-wrote the score with Davide Pavanello.  And the soundtrack alone offers ample justification for the film’s title.  Unlikely it may be for such music to have been invented two centuries ago when it could have sounded pretty strange even to the trained ear; but the music that we hear the girls invent is lush with exquisite harmonies and rhythms that call the listener to join in.  It’s a truly marvellous cinematic experience, one only enhanced by accompanying stylishly shot visual surprises and the delightful plot devices that enable its performance in its climactic scene.

This is a film you’ll want to see, and hear, and toetap to at least twice.

Screening at Palace cinemas.