Respighi reviews

Respighi was said not to have rated his Metamorphoseon highly, though it’s unclear why. It’s even more unclear listening to this excellent new recording, which catches evocatively the work’s brooding, murky tints, and its tendency to sudden irruptions of temperament. ‘Modus II’ (the piece is built in self-contained variation sections) has one of these, and shows Neschling and his Liège musicians sharply responsive to Respighi’s abrupt flexing of muscle.

Respighi, principally celebrated for his Roman trilogy of symphonic poems, has been called Italy’s answer to Richard Strauss. Although neither composer found chamber music entirely conducive, their respective Violin Sonatas (specifically Respighi’s in B minor) have enjoyed increasing exposure in recent years.

Respighi, principally celebrated for his Roman trilogy of symphonic poems, has been called Italy’s answer to Richard Strauss. Although neither composer found chamber music entirely conducive, their respective Violin Sonatas (specifically Respighi’s in B minor) have enjoyed increasing exposure in recent years.

The neglect of Ottorino Respighi’s operas may not be hard to fathom, but it is a little harsh. Numbering ten in total, they have been overshadowed by his brilliantly orchestrated tone poems, and though some have received occasional productions, Marie Victoire (composed in 1914) was not premiered until 2004 in Rome. This recording was made at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper in 2009.

Richard Strauss’s early Violin Sonata is so full of youthful rhetoric and so obviously pines for the colours of a full orchestra rather than the piano, that it’s often a difficult work to bring off convincingly. But Tasmin Little and Piers Lane turn in one of the most satisfying performances I’ve heard. Their judicious choice of tempos allows the music to breathe naturally. They also display an intense sympathy with Strauss’s melodic style, especially in their delicate and atmospheric account of the slow movement.

One of Janet Baker’s last recordings, originally on the now defunct Collins Classics label, features three magically scored vocal pieces alongside the enchanting Botticelli Pictures. Julian Haylock

Istanbul is a European Capital of Culture for 2010, and this is the debut international release of its hometown Philharmonic, a full-size symphonic ensemble for over a decade, with ambitions to be one of Europe’s top ten orchestras.

Violin sonatas are notorious for featuring piano parts infinitely more technically demanding than the violin line, particularly in the case of Richard Strauss’s wrist-crippling barnstormer.

Ronald Brautigam makes light of the score’s various intricacies, playing with a highly intuitive sensitivity that surpasses even Glenn Gould’s remarkable filmed performance with Oscar Shumsky (Sony).

Respighi’s Roman trilogy should be a gift to multichannel sound. The Exton recording, though, is rather closely balanced and lacks the extra breadth of soundstage and spatial definition that SACD should deliver. This is immediately apparent in the opening ‘Villa Borghese’ of Pines, where upper strings are forwardly balanced, and have a sharp, glassy edge to them which grates with repeated listening. Important woodwind decoration is occluded, and depth of perspective limited.

Amazingly few Italian orchestras record Respighi’s so-called Roman trilogy, and this new rendition is of such impressive quality that it could easily scare off potential future competition. Pappano’s gift is to constantly delve well beyond the reputation these tone-poems have as technically brilliant display pieces devoid of deeper content.