Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma - Respighi: The Complete Orchestral Music (8CDs, 2015)

Respighi is best remembered for his scenic views of Rome, namely the wonderfully descriptive triptych Feste romane, Fontane di Roma and Pini di Roma; look beyond these works, however, and youll find a sizeable, rich and varied orchestral output unsurprising for a composer who is today regarded as one of the supreme masters of orchestration. Anyone interested in a Respighi orchestral intégrale, therefore, should seriously consider this comprehensive set a bringing-together of four previously released volumes in which Francesco La Vecchia and his Roman orchestra unite the famous with a generous helping of not-so-famous works. Of Volume 4 (CDs 5 and 6), Gramophone commented on how ""La Vecchia directs proceedings with obvious affection, and the playing has engaging spirit and no mean grace"", and this certainly applies to the rest of the set, which includes a number concertante offerings played by several assured performers cellist Andrea Noferini, for example, creates an ""impassioned, songful"" rendition of Adagio con variazioni, and pianist Désirée Scuccuglia gives a red-blooded and formidably secure account (Gramophone) of Concerto in modo misolidio. Italys musical past is of course in evidence throughout the box, for the composer spent much of his career arranging Baroque music and experimenting with neo-Classical techniques; theres a deft account of The Birds (Gli uccelli), Respighis most exciting example of early music (here Baroque harpsichord pieces), with Concerto a cinque taking the form of an updated Corellian concerto grosso.

Tracklist:

CD 1
1-4 Feste Romane, P. 157
5-8 Fontane di Roma, P. 106
9-12 Pini di Roma, P. 141

CD 2
1-5 Gli Uccelli, P. 154
6-11 Suite for Strings, P. 041
12-15 Suite in sol maggiore, P. 058

CD 3
1-3 Impressioni brasiliane, P. 153
4-6 Trittico botticelliano, P. 151
7-10 Vetrate di Chiesa, P. 150

CD 4
1-3 Concerto a cinque
4 Poema autunnale, P. 146
5-7 Concerto all’antica, P. 075

CD 5
1-3 Concerto gregoriano, P. 135
4 Toccata for piano & orchestra
5 Adagio con variazioni, for cello & orchestra

CD 6
1-3 Sinfonia drammatica, P. 102
4 Fantasia slava in G Minor, P. 50

CD 7
1-4 Antiche danze et arie per liuto, Suite No. 1
5-8 Antiche danze et arie per liuto, Suite No. 2, P. 138
9-12 Antiche danze et arie per liuto, Suite No. 3, P. 172
13-16 Rossiniana Suite, after Rossini, P. 148

CD 8
1-3 Concerto in modo misolidio, P. 145
4 Metamorphoseon modi XII, P. 169

Performers:
Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma
Francesco La Vecchia - Conductor
Vadim Brodsky (CD4: 5-7, CD5: 1-3) - violin
Desirée Scuccuglia (CD4: 1-3, CD6: 4, CD8: 1-3) - piano
Chiara Bertoglio (CD5: 4) - piano
Chiara Petrucci - violin, Vincenzo Valenti - trumpet, Maurizio Turriziani - double bass, Andrea Tenaglia - oboe (CD4: 1-3)
Andrea Noferini (CD5: 5) - cello
Antonio Palcich (CD2: 12-15) - organ
Rec. 2009-12, Rome, Italy

2015 Baroque MP3 320 CBR Box Sets Classical

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