Ennio Morricone cancels Rome concerts over back problems

Morricone won an Academy Award earlier this year.

Italian composer Ennio Morricone has cancelled concerts in Rome because of health concerns.

The 87-year-old has shelved three performances due to two collapsed vertebrae, according to Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Orchestra.

The Oscar winner was due to perform with Santa Cecilia and its chorus on 22, 23 and 24 May.

Later European concerts will still go ahead, Morricone's spokeswoman said.

These include concerts at Paris' Palais Des Congres on 27 and 28 May and at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, on 23 June.

Morricone, who has 500 film credits to this name, won his first competitive Oscar this year for his work on Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. He had previously received an honorary Oscar in 2007.

His most notables scores include The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Untouchables and Bugsy.