Search - Respighi, Phl, Muti :: Respighi: Fontane di Roma; Pini di Roma; Feste di Roma; Antiche arie e danze (The Pines of Rome; The Fountains of Rome; Roman Festivals; Trittico botticelliano; Ancient Airs and Dances, Sets 1-3)

ECCO

DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 11/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Verdi said that writing instrumental music was for Germans. When Respighi decided it was time to show his country's flag in that event he sensibly weighed in at the lightweight level. His Fountains/Pines/Festivals of Rome are hardly `tone poems' as the liner note with this pair of discs calls them, more just simple 4-movement suites, and the Botticelli Triptych is in the same category with (obviously) 3 movements. The pieces evoke general moods rather than serve as musical `descriptions' - I doubt I could tell which are about pines and which about fountains if I hadn't been told, and I doubt the liner note writer could have either. The balance of the second disc, after the Triptych, consists of the very agreeable modern orchestrations that Respighi made of mediaeval Italian dance music, reflecting his own delight at these pieces and his wish to bring them to the modern musical public.



Cd-collectors like myself who have neglected to add Respighi to their libraries have an excellent opportunity here to mend the deficiency. Brilliant Classics are offering us a double disc of this pleasant and effective music at a very modest cost and in very good performances. I would certainly have thought of Muti as likely to know what he was doing when it comes to Respighi, but in fact Marriner easily matches him, and probably gets rather better recorded sound. At any rate the volume-level is distinctly higher on the second disc, and there is more sense of immediacy about the sound, although the recordings were done several years prior to Muti's.



All a very pleasant reminder of the wonderful city of Rome to someone who has come to know it. For musically-inclined newcomers, as enjoyable an introduction as I can think of."