Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Respighi: Toccata for Piano and Orchestra; Casella: Partita for Piano and Orchestra (CD Review)

by Ryan Ross

Joshua Pierce, piano; Anton Nanüt, conductor; RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra. MSR 1839                  

This disc’s program notes by Eric Salzman state that all the works on it are “modernist pieces with strong connections to tradition,” and “can be regarded as neo-classical.” While he qualifies the latter label for each in turn, these claims seem variably strained to me. Despite the fact that two of the pieces are by Italian contemporaries, it would be truer to acknowledge the heterogeneity of the music here and gladly stick to that. (As an aside, I am thoroughly exasperated by the looseness with which the term “modernism” is thrown around these days.) What really strikes me about this offering is not only how much each work should be considered on its own terms, but also how easily the familiarity and accessibility of the Rachmaninoff Paganini Rhapsody can impede fair hearings of its disc-mates here; what these other works need are fair hearings, regardless of the conclusions the listener may reach about them. 

I tried with the Respighi, I really did. But little do I see myself returning to the Toccata for Piano and Orchestra very often for the purpose of listening pleasure. That said, I cannot fault Pierce and company; they do as fine a job as one could ask. I just find the composition itself to be clunky and aimless. True, the title “Toccata” promises nothing in terms of strict form or consistency. But this 21-minute clump of undigested manners and influences is not the composer’s top-drawer product. That is not to say there aren’t beautiful moments and passages of exciting virtuosity – there definitely are both. But these elements do not make a strong impression in total. Still, I encourage listeners to give this piece a try and see for yourselves. Your experience may differ, and the music at least deserves a chance. I remain grateful to these performers and their recording for mine. 

 

I admit that my exposure to Alfredo Casella’s music has been patchy; this was my first encounter with his Partita for Piano and Orchestra. I did not think much of the piece at first, but I stuck with it for many hearings. I’m glad I did – this is music that needed time and exposure to grow on me. I could sense the composer’s distinctive voice from the start, but my affection was a bit slower to follow. What I hear now when I listen to it is refulgent, tuneful music that beams amiably. I also took the time to listen to a competing recording from Naxos (8.573005), and find the present rendering by Joshua Pierce and company to be more convincing. This Partita being the most squarely “neoclassical” work on the disc, I appreciated the latter’s crisp, brisk approach (excepting the finale, where the Naxos performance’s tempo is actually a bit quicker). 

Speaking of brisk, try out this Paganini Rhapsody! At 21:43 it is definitely one of the fastest performances I have ever heard (perhaps the fastest). Not even Yuja Wang (whose own recently recorded performance of this work I reviewed here some months ago) blazes through at such a pace. Technically, Pierce acquits himself very well. I also like his tone and articulation. While there are more soulful, more glowing performanes out there, his expressiveness is acceptable. But, not all that dissimilar to my feelings about Wang’s performance, there are just too many fine interpretations available for me to enthusiastically push this one. Even if it did not feel too breathless, which it does, this Paganini Rhapsody would be middling. I’m afraid my recommendation here is for collectors only. 

 

If the Rachmaninoff is the hook for customers to also sample the less-familiar repertoire, and the lesser-familiar repertoire lures the explorer to buy yet another recording of the Rachmaninoff, this disc was shrewdly calculated. There is likely something here for most classical listeners, and for me there is plenty: the wholly satisfying Casella Partita, the well performed but disappointing Respighi Toccata (which I’m nonetheless glad to have in my collection), and a fast Paganini Rhapsody. On balance, the price of the disc is worth what it offers. Maybe barely worth it, but worth it all the same.

Recent Releases, No. 8 (CD Mini-reviews)

By Karl W. Nehriing

Concertos for Mallet Instruments. Alexis Alrich: Marimba Concerto; Karl Jenkins: La Folia; Ned Rorem: Mallet Concerto. Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Jean Thorel, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. NAXOS 8.574218.

Although this recording was only recently released, it was recorded back in 2013. I have no idea why it took so long to get released, but I am certainly glad that it did, for it is a delight. I would think that by now, most classical music lovers are familiar with the featured soloist. As the liner notes boldly assert, “Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a career as a full-time solo percussionist. As an eclectic and innovative musician and composer, she is constantly redefining the goals and expectations of percussion.” Her influence can be seen here, as she gave the world premiere of the Alexis Aldrich (b. 1955) Marimba Concerto (as explained in a brief overview of the work by the composer herself), an energetic, extroverted work in three movements that is quite entertaining. She was the dedicatee of La Folia by Karl Jenkins (b. 1944), a more stately dance-rooted composition for  marimba and strings that builds in energy as it moves along. The final piece on the program, the Mallet Concerto by Ned Rorem (b. 1923), features Ms. Glennie on vibraphone and xylophone in addition to marimba. It is quite a colorful work with an ending movement titled “An Ending” that is aptly named for reasons beyond the obvious.

David Gompper: Cello Concerto; Double Bass Concerto; Moonburst. Timothy Gill, cello; Volkan Orhon, double bass; Emmanuel Siffert, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. NAXOS 8.559855.

Reading the booklet notes included in this release made me pause for a few moments to reflect on the truly international nature of today’s classical music landscape. American composer David Gompper (b. 1954) studied music in London, taught music in Nigeria, received his doctorate at the University of Michigan, taught for a year at the Moscow Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar, and now serves as a professor at the University of Iowa, while Emmanuel Siffert is a Swiss conductor leading a British orchestra. The program includes three recent Gompper compositions, leading off with his two-movement Cello Concerto (2019), the first moment of which is intense - and nervous sounding, with some vigorous playing by Gill. The second movement is much different in mood, unsettled and skittish, seemingly directed more inward than the more extroverted first movement. Not a lyrical piece, but not without some appeal, at least for those with an interest in contemporary music. The concluding Double Bass Concerto (2018) is less successful, at least to these ears. Orhon is clearly a master of his instrument, but he seems to be fighting against chaos. Perhaps that was what Gompper intended, but it does not make for an appealing musical experience. The final piece on this CD, Moonburst (2018), is more successful, evoking as it does a sense of darkness and apprehension. At times, the sound seemed to more than a hint of an edge in the upper midrange; as it turned out, a quick check of the back cover credits revealed an engineering team whose names I did not recognize. I shall be wary should I encounter them again.  

Occurrence: Daniel Bjarnason: Violin Concerto; Veronique Vaka: Lendh; Haukur Tómasson: in Seventh Heaven; Puriòur Jónsdóttir: Flutter; Magnús Blöndal Jóhansson: Adagio. Sono Luminus DSL-92243. Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Mario Caroli, flute; Daniel Bjarnason, Iceland Symphony Orchestra. SONO Luminus DSL-92243.

This is not just a mini-review, it is a mixed review, for I believe that I would not stand alone in finding the five compositions on this release to be quite a mixed bag in terms of their appeal, even as I respectfully acknowledge that your musical tastes may – and most likely are – different from mine. As Sly & The Family Stone sang, “different strokes for different folks.” In any event, Occurrence is the third in a series of recordings on the SONO Luminus label by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra that have been dedicated to highlighting the work of contemporary Icelandic composers, the first two being Recurrence and Concurrence (no, I have no idea why Occurrence was not the first title in the series, and I hope I am not turning into too much of an old pedant).

Of the five compositions on the disc (actually, discs – the library version I am reviewing incudes not only a standard CD but also a Blu-ray surround sound audio disc), I find two quite appealing, one amazingly appealing, one difficult and thorny but not without some appeal, and one that I have tried several times to “get” but find utterly unappealing. Unfortunately, the three appealing compositions are the short ones on the disc, combining for less than half the total 70:42 playing time. Leading off the program is composer/conductor Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto (23:41), an intense, tightly wound piece that is not immediately appealing but after several listens I came to at least respect for its concentrated energy. Next is Veronique Vaka’s  Lendh (11:36), a tone poem of great energy, its bass notes evoking the elemental geological forces underlying the fantastic Icelandic landscape and giving your woofers some cardio. Haukur Tómasson’s in Seventh Heaven (7:13) evokes a different realm, the sounds seeming to play and shimmer, continually changing while holding our attention. Next comes Puriòur Jónsdóttir’s Flutter (20:49), a concerto for flute that try as I might, I never could come to embrace. I will say this much for it, it contains some truly interesting sounds. Perhaps others will like it better than I; it is surely an interesting composition.

The program concludes with Magnús Blöndal Jóhansson’s Adagio (7:19), which brings about a complete change of mood. It is reflective, elegiac, and emotionally resonant. As this is such an amazingly appealing piece, please allow me a few more sentences (thus stretching the concept of “mini-review” until it snaps, thus sayeth the pedant). According to the liner notes, Jóhansson (1925-2005) was one of the first modernists of Icelandic music, composing in 1950 the first Icelandic 12-tone work. “By the 1970s, Jóhansson’s career was in decline. After the death of his wife , he fought a long and demeaning battle with alcoholism and composed nothing between 1972 and 1980. He returned with the stunningly simple Adagio for strings, celeste, and percussion in 1980.” Stunningly simple, but also stunningly beautiful. The engineering (I will admit to getting a kick out of seeing that it was mixed and mastered using Legacy Audio speakers – see my brief bio below) is excellent, as are the liner notes. Recommended to those with a curiosity about or appreciation for contemporary music.

Reich: Music for Two or More Pianos; Eight Lines (for ensemble); Vermont Counterpoint (for flutes and tape); New York Counterpoint (for clarinets and tape); City Life (for ensemble). Jörg Schweinbenz, piano; Anne Parisot, Delphine Roche, flutes; Andrea Nagy, clarinets; Klaus Simon, piano, conductor, Holst-Sinfonietta. NAXOS 8.559682.

American composer Steve Reich (b. 1936) is classified as a “minimalist” composer. His best-known composition, Music for 18 Musicians, is probably the best-known of the minimalist genre, and if you have never heard it, I would strongly advise seeking it out. There are several recordings to choose from; from among them, I would suggest you start with the one on ECM, which was originally released as an LP (now available on CD and streaming formats) in 1978 and caused quite a ripple of excitement. This generously filled (73:24) new release from Naxos includes compositions from a wide swath of Reich’s career, from Music for Two or More Pianos from 1964 to City Life from 1995. All of the selections are clearly minimalist in that they employ simple chord structures, rhythmic patterns that revolve around a discernible driving pulse, and an abundance of energy. The earliest piece, for pianos, is the most abstract-sounding, but after something of a slow start, it picks up energy as it as it moves along. Reich’s compositions and these spirited performers project an undeniable feeling of life-affirming joy, a sense of sheer exuberance, and an expression of gratitude for the ability to create, perform, and enjoy the sounds of music and integrate them with the with the rhythms of life. This is a disc well worth an audition even if you have listened to a Philip Glass recording or two in the past and concluded that minimalism was not for you…

Respighi: Concerto all’antica; Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute. Davide Alogna, violin; Salvatore di Vittorio, Chamber Orchestra of New York. NAXOS 8.573901.

This recording incudes both the unfamiliar and the familiar. In fact, the Concerto all’antica, originally composed way back in 1908, receives here its world premiere recording; by way of contrast, except for the Roman trilogy (Pines, Fountains, and Festivals), the Ancient Airs and Dances are probably Respighi’s most oft-recorded compositions. According to the liner notes, “the concerto was first referred to as a “Concerto in an Ancient Style by an anonymous composer, revised and orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi, [and] was probably performed in its reduction for violin and piano. Of course, the anonymous composer was Respighi himself and he admitted later that he composed the concerto as a joke for German critics.” As it turns out, the score languished for many decades, finally being published as Concerto all’antica in 1990, and being performed here in its first printed critical edition published in 2019 by conductor Salvatore Di Vittorio. At just over a half-hour in duration, it is a substantial composition, one that falls easily upon the ears and is quite enjoyable. Also quite enjoyable – but fans of Respighi already know this – are the Ancient Airs and Dances, which are presented here in quite enjoyable performances, bringing the total timing on this disc to more than 80 minutes. No skimping here! Although when I want to hear the Dances I would more likely pull out either the venerable Dorati recording on Mercury Living Presence or the López Cobos on Telarc, the inclusion of the charming Concerto all’antica on this new NAXOS release makes it well worth recommending to dedicated Respighi fans. (See also John’s review: https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/search?q=Respighi+Ancient)

Schnittke: Works for Violin and Piano. Includes Suite in the Old Style; Polka; Tango; Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1; Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan; Congratulatory Rondo; Silent Night. Daniel Hope, violin; Alexey Botvinov, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 483 9234.

In his liner note essay, violinist Daniel Hope tells how he first encountered and fell in love with the music of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) back in 1989 when as a teenager he heard a fellow student play Schnittke’s Violin Sonata No. 1. As he recalls, “from the moment I heard it, I wanted more than anything to play this music. The violinist was playing from a hand-copied score, barely legible, and I remember approaching him after the concert and pleading with him to let me copy the parts. That evening began my ‘love affair’ with Alfred Schnittke’s music.” The now-mature Hope’s performance of the Sonata is the centerpiece of this collection, and it shows that his love has not dimmed over the years. From the lighter feeling of the various dance pieces to the searing intensity of the solo violin performance of the Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan, Hope brings an expressive, communicative touch to this music that may well cause you to fall in love with it, too. Schnittke’s arrangement of Silent Night, which closes the program, is haunting, beautiful, and thought-provoking. Throughout the album, Hope is well supported by pianist Alexey Botvinov, who sadly enough becomes a forgotten figure in the otherwise splendid liner notes – no photo, no mention. If you enjoy violin music, this is a recording you really ought to audition, for it is a treasure. 

Weinberg: String Quartets, Vol. 1 Nos. 2, 5, and 6. Arcadia Quartet. Chandos CHAN 20158.

This will be more of a true mini-review, not at all as a reflection on the quality of the music; in fact, this Chandos release is so excellent that I want to cut right to the chase and point out just how excellent it is. Having favorably reviewed (here and here) some previous music by Weinberg (1919-1996) and having enjoyed other recordings of his music in the past, I looked forward to auditioning this new Chandos recording of some of his string quartets. For one thing, I knew that the Polish Weinberg and the Russian Shostakovich became close friends and shared musical ideas with one another, so as an ardent admirer of the l Shostakovich’s quartets I was especially eager to hear Weinberg’s. From the first few notes of Weinberg’s Quartet No. 2, I was sold. (I should point out that he wrote this before meeting Shostakovich; in fact, the liner notes speculate that he showed the music to the Shostakovich, who then used some of the ideas in his own Quartet No. 2). All three string quartets included in this release are impressive examples of the genre. They are on the serious side, at times brooding, but never mawkish or sentimental. When they sing, it is a serious song; when they reflect, it is deep reflection. Still, this is not forbidding music, nor standoffish music; rather, it is music that draws the listener in, both emotionally and intellectually. It is music that both encourages and rewards repeat listening. The sound quality is also warm and inviting, without edge up high or boom down low. Informative liner notes that include some engaging historical photos complete this highly recommendable package. I look forward to future volumes with eager anticipation.   

Bonus Recommendations:

The Musical Human: Michael Spitzer. Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-1-63557-624-5.

This is a big (400 pp.), ambitious book that might be a bit much for many classical music fans, but it offers a fascinating take on music and life that is well worth taking a look at. Spitzer divides the book into three parts; if nothing else, I would suggest that classical music lovers would do well to take a dive into Part One (Life), a manageable and focused 132 pages offering some keen insights into our current musical universe. On page 41, for example, we learn that “a preference for consonances gets locked in at age nine, while non-Western children develop a taste for (to our ears) irregular tunings and greater dissonance. A centrepiece of Western harmony is octave equivalence, as when children and adult men sing the same melody an octave apart (that is, singing eight notes up the scale brings you back to the same note, but an octave higher). Playing an octave slightly out of tune creates acoustic interference beats that sound hideous to Western ears, but quite palatable to people in Bali. In Bulgaria, it is common for choruses to sing in parallel minor seconds (a semitone apart): one culture’s noise is another culture’s spice.” In Part One, Spitzer goes on to discuss topics as the roles that music plays in our lives, the myth of the “musical genius,” the state of music education, the role of the conductor, and how music is akin to religion. And what of the rest of the book – Parts Two (History), with sections titled “Ice, Sand, Savannah and Forest,” “The Tuning of the West,” Superpowers,” and “Endgames,” and Three (Evolution), with sections titled “Animal,” Human,” “Machine,” and “Eleven Lessons on Music’s Nature?” I will leave you with this little teaser from near the end of Part One: “Music’s oceanic quality allies it with religion. Indeed a key strand of Parts 2 and 3 of this book is that music and religion sprang to life at the same time.” 

Finally, for another take on the universality of music, you might want to take a look at this recent article on the subject from Nautilus magazine.

KWN

Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances (CD review)

Also, Concerto all’antica. David Alongna, violin; Salvatore Di Vittorio, Chamber Orchestra of New York. Naxos 8.573901.

By John J. Puccio

Italian composer and violinist Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is probably best known for his trilogy of tone-poem suites The Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome. However, coming close on their heels is his Ancient Airs and Dances, here presented on a Naxos CD by Maestro Salvatore Di Vittorio and the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

Respighi wrote three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances (1917, 1923, and 1931), the music freely adapted from original sixteenth-century pieces for lute. He based the first suite on various Renaissance works by Simone Molinaro, Vincenzo Galilei, and a few other anonymous composers. He based the second suite on works for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabritio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, an anonymous composer, and an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne. The third suite Respighi based on lute and guitar works by Besard, Ludovico Roncalli, Santino Garsi da Parma, and a few other anonymous composers. This last suite differs from the previous ones in being slightly sadder than the others.

My own touchstone for these works has long been the 1958 stereo recording by Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica, now on a remastered Mercury Living Presence CD (and before that on LP). While I would never suggest that in a field so subjective as music appreciation that there is any absolute “best” of anything, I’ve always found Dorati’s performance masterly, so any newcomer has a lot to look up to. Maestro Di Vittorio does a pretty good job of it, although his interpretations reflect perhaps more of a mock-historical perspective in these pieces than Dorati’s more Romantic approach. I say “mock-historical” because even though Respighi based these Ancient Airs and Dances on Baroque sources, he did intend them for today’s audiences, kind of old works made new. So, it does bring up the question of whether conductors should frame their performances in an ancient, historically informed style or in a manner that more conforms to contemporary standards. As Maestro Di Vittorio notes, “Respighi typically preferred combining pre-Classical melodic styles and musical forms (such as dance suites) with standard late 19th-century Romantic harmonies and textures.”

Whatever, the program begins with the Suite No. 1, which includes four brief dance sections. Di Vittorio then follows Suite No. 1 with Suite No. 3, again four brief dances. It was unclear to me why the conductor chose to present the suites out of chronological order except that Suite No. 2, which comes last on the agenda, is longer than the others, and maybe Di Vittorio wanted to end the Airs with the most substantial material. I dunno.

Probably the most striking things about Di Vittorio’s reading are the tempos. He tends to take the fast movements very quickly and the slower movements very slowly. By that, I mean that he follows one of the period-instrument practices, although not to extremes. The faster music is certainly vigorous and stimulating but without taxing one’s ears, while the slower sections have a sweet, lyrical, flowing quality about them. Nevertheless, the Dorati performances seem more refined to me, more elevated, more stately, more graceful. And with more uniform pacing, Dorati’s handling of the various movements seem to hold together better than in this newer recording.

Accompanying the Ancient Airs and Dances is an early (1908) piece by Respighi, the Concerto all’antica (old-fashioned or antique concert or simply “Concerto in an Ancient Style”). It’s a fairly lyrical work that again draws upon older musical styles for inspiration, even though Respighi admitted that he made up the whole thing himself as a joke for German critics. Maestro Di Vittorio uses the first printed critical edition of the score, published in 2019, making this a world-premiere recording of sorts. I can understand why Di Vittorio begins the program with this selection: It comes across as a proper and welcome complement to the Ancient Airs and Dances, with an especially lovely Adagio and excellent playing from violinist Davide Alogna.

Producers Salvatore Di Vittorio, Bill Siegmund, and Shanan Estreicher and engineer Bill Biegmund recorded the music at the Concert Hall, Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, New York in June 2019. The sound is a tad forward and bright, the upper midrange somewhat edgy at times. Otherwise, it’s good, modern sound, with plenty of clarity and even a little air around the instruments.

Incidentally, since I had the Dorati recording in another player, I couldn’t help notice the difference in sound. The sixty-year older Mercury remaster appeared warmer, smoother, and slightly wider. Just sayin’.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Respighi: Roman Trilogy (SACD Review)

Fontane di Roma, Pini di Roma, Feste Romane. John Wilson, Sinfonia of London. Chandos CHSA 5261.

By Karl W. Nehring

Respighi’s “Roman Trilogy” consists of The Fountains of Rome (1914-16), The Pines of Rome (1923-24), and Roman Festivals (1928). The three works combined take about an hour to perform, so with the advent of the CD era, they were often bundled together, as they are here. Of the three, the Pines and Fountains are probably the more popular, and in the LP era, they were often recorded together, one work per side of vinyl. What we have here on this Chandos SACD release is the entire trilogy, performed by the Sinfonia of London under the direction of John Wilson.

Unless you happen to follow the British music scene, you may never have ever heard of the Sinfonia of London, which is not one of the established London orchestras such as the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, or the similarly-named London Sinfonietta. Rather, the Sinfonia of London is a pickup orchestra that assembles for specific recording or concert performances. Originally assembled in the 1950s to record film scores (a lucrative source of income for orchestral musicians) it is now in its third incarnation, which was assembled under conductor Wilson in 2018 to undertake recording projects. Its members include musicians from the more well-known London orchestras as well as some skilled chamber musicians and soloists. Wilson and the orchestra have thus far released three recordings for Chandos, the previous two being music by Korngold and a disc of French music titled Escales, which was reviewed by JJP (https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/03/escales-french-orchestral-works-sacd.html).

The end result of the efforts of the orchestra, conductor, and engineering team is a disc that makes Respighi’s music sound exciting indeed. The program opens with Roman Festivals, which is generally regarded as the musically weakest but most aurally spectacular of the three compositions. As noted musicologist and author Nigel Simeone observes in his liner notes, “Feste Romana was composed in 1928, completing the trilogy and adding a new dimension to it: there is a sharper edge to the orchestration and more dissonance in the harmonies… The orchestra is even larger than in Fontane and Pini, including a vast array of percussion as well as organ, four-hand piano, and mandolin. In the programme for the first performance, Respighi was quoted as saying that Feste Romane ‘represents the maximum of orchestral sonority and colour’ in his scores, and he is not exaggerating… It may be the least known of the Roman Triptych, but Feste Romane is probably the most audacious of the three: undoubtedly extravagant and even uproarious, it is also an astonishing demonstration of Respighi’s inventiveness.” Without embarrassment, Wilson and his forces play this music for all it is worth, with both the performance and the sound communicating an energetic sense of revelry with unabashed enthusiasm and panache.

Next on the program is the first-composed of the trilogy, The Fountains of Rome. Although not as spectacular in scope as the Festivals, it is still quite a colorful composition. Although today it is an accepted part of the orchestral repertory, there are still some music lovers who seem to consider it something of a second-tier piece. No, it is not as profound as Bruckner or Mahler, but it is certainly fun to hear. Once again, Wilson and his merry band play it with gusto, bringing energy and excitement to the score.

The program closes with what has become Respighi’s most well-known and well-loved composition, the Pines of Rome. Arturo Toscanini was an early advocate of the Pines, conducting its American premier in January, 1926, in his debut concert as director of the New York Philharmonic. He often performed it in concert over the next three decades and eventually recording it with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1953. It has been recorded many times by many conductors and orchestras over the years, with well over 100 recordings available. (By the way, I plan to do an overview of some noteworthy recordings in a future installment – but no, it will not cover anywhere near 100!) As you might expect, Wilson and his orchestra also bring energy and enthusiasm to bear in their performance, which sparkles with color that is well-captured by the Chandos engineering headed up by veteran soundman Ralph Couzens. Although my favorite of all Pines recordings that I have auditioned remains the 1959 effort by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony on RCA, this version need not hang its head in shame. It is a good one.

So, all things considered, how does this recording of the Roman Trilogy stack up against other versions? Obviously (at least to me), I have not heard them all, but I have auditioned and owned some very good ones. I would put this new Chandos version right up there with the best I have heard. It is well-played and well-recorded. Allow me to quickly compare it to two other versions (please note that I am talking now about recordings of the trilogy, not of just the Pines, which I plan to discuss in a future installment). One of my favorite recordings has been that by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel (Sony Classical SK 66843). The performance is not as energetic as that by Wilson, but the recording is more natural-sounding, giving a more distant, more comfortable perspective. My other favorite is a recording that is not nearly as widely known, Respighi Complete Orchestral Music Volume 1 by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma conducted by Francesco La Vecchia (Brilliant Classics 2CD 94392). Their performance is warmer and softer, especially in the quieter passages, with recording quality to match. All in all, this new Chandos SACD is an excellent recording that is well worth an audition by classical music fans, even those who already own other recordings. Wilson and his players bring in-your-face energy and excitement to this music that is remarkable to hear.

Bonus Recommendations: As we head into 2021, I thought it might be appropriate to look back at some of my favorite classical recordings of 2020. As JJP said in his favorites list (https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2021/01/favorite-classical-recordings-of-2020.html), I am not claiming that these are the “best” recordings of the year; rather, they are some that I particularly enjoyed about which I would just like to pass along some quick thoughts. I had planned to do 10, but could not quite constrain myself to that number. At any rate, here goes: 

Bach: Works and Reworks. Vikingur Olafsson, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 4837769. With Works clocking in at more than 77 minutes and Reworks at more than 44, richly informative liner notes, and splendid recording quality throughout, this release is a must-have for Bach lovers and a splendid introduction to those who may be just getting into “classical” music.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/03/bach-works-and-reworks-cd-review.html

Beethoven: Revolution: Symphonies 1-5. Jordi Savall, Le Concert des Nations. Alia Vox AVSA9937. The planning, preparation, and passion that Savall, his players, the recording engineer, and the Alia Vox staff who produced the meticulously conceived and beautifully executed physical package (one of the finest I have ever run across) have brought to this project have resulted in a Beethoven box that excels in every way. This is reference-quality Beethoven, no doubt about it.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/12/beethoven-revolution-symphonies-1-5.html

Clyne: Dance; Elgar: Cello Concerto. Inbal Segev, cello; Marin Alsop, London Philharmonic Orchestra. AVIE AV2419. Although the cello is pushed too far forward in the Clyne (better in the Elgar), my enthusiasm for both the music and the performances leads me to give this new release from AVIE a highly enthusiastic recommendation.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/08/clyne-dance-cd-review.html

Clyne: Mythologies. Marin Alsop, Sakari Oramo, Andrew Litton, André de Ridder (conductors), BBC Symphony Orchestra; Jennifer Koh, violin; Irene Buckley, voice. AVIE AV2434. This is a wonderful recording of music by a composer who deserves wider recognition. I fervently hope that even more recordings of music by Ms. Clyne will be forthcoming, as she has a vivid imagination and a wondrous talent for orchestration. Brava!

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2021/01/clyne-mythologies-cd-review.html

Dalbavie: La source d’un regard; Oboe Concerto; Flute Concerto; Cello Concerto. Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony; DeMarre McGill, flute; Mary Lynch, oboe; Jay Campbell, cello. Seattle Symphony Media SSM022. Interesting new music, excellent recorded sound, helpful liner notes, and a generous length of nearly 73 minutes.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/01/dalbavie-la-source-dun-regard-cd-review.html

Debussy-Rameau: Vikingur Olafsson, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 479 7701. Vikingur once again provides an extensive liner note essay on the music that is fascinating and enlightening. The artwork and layout of the included booklet are attractive and readable, even to “mature” eyes such as mine, and the CD is packed with nearly 80 minutes of music.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/04/debussy-rameau-cd-review.html

Esenvalds: Translations. Ethan Sperry, Portland State Chamber Choir; Charles Noble, viola; Marilyn de Oliveira, cello; David Walters, singing handbells; Joel Bluestone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, chimes; Florian Conzetti, vibraphone, suspended cymbal, bass drum. Naxos 8.574124. Not only is the program outstanding, but so is the production. The liner notes by conductor Sperry are helpful, lyrics are included, and the recorded program is nearly 70 minutes long. The musicians, engineers, production staff, and the folks at Naxos have all done themselves proud with this fine release. 

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/06/esenvalds-translations-cd-review.html

Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel. Jaan-Eik Tulve, Vox Clamantis; Instrumental preludes and interludes by Marco and Angela Ambrosini (nyckelharpa) and Anna-Lüsa Eller (kennel). ECM New Series ECM 2620. The music, the performance, and the recorded sound combine to make The Suspended Harp of Babel an indescribably beautiful release. The informative liner notes with lyrics translated into English add to the overall quality of the production.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/05/cyrillus-kreek-suspended-harp-of-babel_20.html

Shostakovich: Cello Concertos. Alban Gerhardt, cello; Jukka-Pekka Saraste, WDR Sinfonieorchester. Hyperion CDA68340. My long-time favorite recording has been a 1990 RCA recording featuring cellist Natalia Gutman with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Yuri Temirkanov, but I have found this new Hyperion release to sound appreciably better, lacking the slight glare of the older recording, not to mention that Gerhardt’s playing is completely convincing.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/12/some-new-releases-cdsacd-mini-reviews.html

Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 5; Finzi: Concerto for Clarinet and Strings. Michael Collins (clarinet and conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra. BIS-2367. This new recording of the RVW Symphony No. 5 is a very worthy addition to a crowded field. In addition to the fine performance and sound, and added attraction of this release is the delightful Finzi Clarinet Concerto.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/09/vaughan-williams-symphony-no-5-sacd.html

Eric Whitacre: The Sacred Veil. Los Angeles Master Chorale; Grant Gershon, Artistic Director; Eric Whitacre, conductor; Lisa Edwards, piano; Jeffrey Zeigler, cello. Signum SIGCD630. A truly moving composition; moreover, the recorded sound is of such excellent quality that the listener is not likely to really even think about it. The music is just there, sounding utterly natural and unstrained. This is a magnificent CD that I cannot recommend too highly.

https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/2020/10/eric-whitacre-sacred-veil-cd-review.html

KWN

To listen to a brief excerpt from the Respighi album, click below:

RCA Living Stereo (CD reviews)

Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World," and other orchestral masterworks. Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  RCA Living Stereo 09026-62587-2.
Hovhaness: Mysterious Mountain; Prokofiev: Lt. Kije; Stravinsky: The Fairy's Kiss. Reiner, CSO. RCA Living Stereo 09026-61957-2.
Respighi: Pines and Fountains of Rome; Debussy: La Mer.  Reiner, CSO. RCA Living Stereo 09026-68079-2. 

By now, the names Fritz Reiner and "Living Stereo" should be synonymous with highest recommendation. It's a no-brainer, a win-win situation. Between the years 1954 and 1962 Reiner made a remarkable number of stereo recordings for RCA. They were remarkable for two reasons:  first, because almost all of them were immediately recognized as superb performances and have remained on practically everyone's list of recommended recordings for the last forty years; second, because they were recorded in the pioneering days of stereo before sound engineers had learned much about screwing things up.

Back then, a lot of recording engineers appeared to be interested in minimal miking, a wide stereo spread, good front-to-back dimensional information, as well as wide dynamic and frequency ranges and reasonably unaffected tonal balance. Things like stereo multi-miking, spotlighting, highlighting, partitioning, reverb, compression, dynamic and frequency limiting, and artificial brightness were just starting to come into their own. For the most part, the conductor was still in charge of the sound of his orchestra. Lovingly remastered by RCA, the "Living Stereo" CD series, which RCA introduced in the mid 1990's, especially the ones with Reiner, show us just how good those simple, early techniques were, techniques later adopted by many prominent audiophile labels in their own recordings.

Anyway, of the three early discs in RCA's "Living Stereo" CD line, Reiner's Dvorak is the only recording I had not heard in many years. This Dvorak Ninth Symphony from 1957 still does not displace my favored Kertesz (Decca) or Horenstein (Unicorn) recordings, but it packs much mature drama and conviction into a powerful and enjoyable performance.

Fritz Reiner

The Reiner recording of Hovhaness's Mysterious Mountain, also from 1957, has been a classic for four decades and helped put Hovhaness on the musical map. It may not hold up as well sonically as, say, Gerard Schwarz's Seattle Symphony disc on Delos, but it is clearly among the most profoundly spiritual readings imaginable. Its coupling with Stravinsky's Fairy's Kiss and a delightful rendition of Prokofiev's Lt. Kije makes this an attractive package. Each of these recordings had appeared previously on CD from RCA. Perhaps in the "Living Stereo" series they lose a little something in overall brilliance, but they have never sounded quieter, smoother, or more natural.

The third disc I'll mention is an absolute must-buy. I think I have owned Reiner's Respighi tone poems, the Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome, in one form or another for as long they have been around (RCA recorded them in 1959, and I bought the LP in the early 60's). Yes, the newer Muti and Dutoit recordings sound a little better in some ways, but no one has yet captured the color and splash of these works as well as Reiner. Coupled with yet another classic among classics, Debussy's La Mer, itself a perennial top-of-the-pile choice, this disc gets my highest  recommendation.

The reader newly acquainted with classical music could do worse than to purchase anything in the Reiner series; the reader newly acquainted with audiophile sound could do worse with many, if not most, modern recordings.

Incidentally, since issuing their "Living Stereo" series on CD, RCA has also issued many of the recordings on SACD, and JVC has remastered many of them in XRCD24. Choices, choices....

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Respighi: Roman Trilogy (CD review)

Roman Festivals; Fountains of Rome; Pines of Rome. JoAnn Falletta, Buffalo Philharmonic. Naxos 8.574013.

Here's an interesting observation to begin: In this day and age when due to financial concerns most of the world's great orchestras find it difficult to produce many recordings (and when they do, they're most often live performances), the Buffalo Philharmonic under the guidance of conductor JoAnn Falletta continues to turn out a stream of excellent performances with the Naxos label. What have they discovered up there in Buffalo that most everybody else is missing? I dunno. But we should not look a gift horse (or buffalo) in the mouth; we're lucky that Ms. Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic are as good as they are.

Anyway, the Italian composer, violinist, and musicologist Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is probably best known today for his trio of lavishly orchestrated tone poems describing various famous places in Italy, the three works on this disc now known as the "Roman Trilogy." Of course, he wrote quite a lot more, but these three pieces so overshadow the others, the lesser works tend to get forgotten.

Even though Respighi wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), Ms. Falletta has chosen to open the agenda with the Feste roman ("Roman Festivals") the last of the trilogy, which Respighi wrote in 1928. For me these are the least-successful parts of the trilogy. Respighi appears to have been trying to outdo himself in the work, and the music becomes more than a little hectic and bombastic as a result. I can only assume Ms. Falletta begins the show with it because it's so brash, and it acts as a sort of overture or curtain-raiser. The music is about as loud and forward as it can be, yet even so Ms. Falletta finds her way to make it all seem more meaningful than it really is, being especially careful to cultivate a refined attitude throughout.

Next, we get the Fountains of Rome (1916), the work that started it all and containing some of the more festive, colorful, and descriptive of the tone poems. Each of the four movements describes a celebrated fountain in Rome, the music, as in the other works, playing without a break. We hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music finally fading away into silence as night falls.

JoAnn Falletta

Ms. Falletta carefully draws out the morning beauty of the opening "Fountain of Valle Guilia at Dawn." It's never too rushed and the contrasts in light and shadow are nicely accentuated. The "Triton Fountain" fairly bursts forth, although, again, not overly dramatically so. Ms. Falletta contains herself, never vulgarizing the music and, thus, making it all the more effective. She takes "The Trivi Fountain at Midday" at a triumphant gait, and she manages the closing "Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset" in a solemn yet stately manner.

The disc's program ends with possibly Respighi's most-popular work, the Pines of Rome ((1924). It opens with a big splash of color in "The Pines of the Villa Borghese," which Ms. Falletta treats in suitably bright, flamboyant fashion, while never trivializing or debasing it. The second movement, "Pines Near a Catacomb," is initially bleak until Respighi opens it up to a more sincere melancholy and finally a kind of regal dirge. Ms. Falletta maintains each of the varying moods without the piece sounding routine or overstaying its welcome. After that, she makes the third movement, the "Juniculum" pines, with its song of the nightingale, as sweetly appealing as any I've heard, the atmosphere easygoing and composed. It is a prelude, really, to the big finale, the "Pines of the Appian Way," maybe the single most-famous thing Respighi ever wrote. The march of ancient Roman soldiers as they return home in triumph along the Appian Way interrupts the tranquility of Nature and the chirping of birds (yes, Respighi left instructions for real bird sounds here). Ms. Falletta maintains a strong control of the march tempo as the steps of the soldiers get increasingly more pronounced and more insistent. It's a splendid production all the way around.

Producer and engineer Tim Handley recorded the music at Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York in May and June 2018. Starting with the "Roman Festivals" was not only a good curtain raiser, it was a good way to show off the disc's sound. This is one of the most well-rounded sounding recordings I think I've ever heard from Naxos. The sound is well spread out across the speakers; and it's very dynamic and wide ranging. There is a solid bass response present that most engineers are content to dampen for fear, I suppose, of offending some listeners (or blowing up their speakers or earbuds). Although the sound gets a little muddled in the loudest passages, the impact, depth, and clarity are impressive. This is sound worthy of Respighi's music.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Respighi: La Boutique fantasque (CD review)

Also, Impressioni brasiliane. Charles Dutoit, Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Decca 289 455 983-2.

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936), celebrated mostly for his collections of tone poems like The Pines of Rome, The Fountains of Rome, and The Festivals of Rome, he also created the music for the delightful ballet composite La Boutique fantasque (or "The Magic Toy Shop"), based on lesser-known tunes by Gioacchino Rossini and premiered in 1919. The music makes a splendid impression under conductor Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony.

La Boutique fantasque has a built-in charm. How can one not like a ballet that brings toys to life after the toy shop closes? My comparison in the work was the equally well played recording by Richard Bonynge, an early digital release (1982) also from Decca (which I listened to on a London CD). Dutoit brings a gentler, more delicate quality to the score than Bonynge, which may or may not please all listeners while certainly making the work easy to listen to.

Charles Dutoit

But it's in its sonic properties that the new disc scores over its older rival. Dutoit's orchestra sounds smoother, buttery smooth, in fact, more dynamic, and, most important, better imaged. There is a depth and breadth to the orchestral arena that makes the Bonynge effort sound positively one-dimensional. Dutoit's acoustic is natural and alive, preserving detail and clarity within a subtly reverberant ambiance.

Of course, Dutoit and Bonynge aren't the only conductors to have recorded the work. There are also fine releases from Arthur Fiedler (RCA), Ernest Ansermet (Decca), Andrew Davis (Sony), Antonio Janigro (Vanguard), Gianandrea Noseda (Chandos), Neville Marriner (Philips), Marzio Conti (CPO), Eugene Ormandy (Sony), and many others. So the field is still wide open.

Dutoit's coupling, Respighi's Impressioni brasiliane, seems surprisingly refined for a composer so often thought of for his vigorous color. The piece is almost sedate in its understatement but, frankly, doesn't capture a whole lot of Brazil's traditional spirit until the final movement.

Overall, though, Dutoit's La Boutique fantasque is undoubtedly among the best recordings available of it, surely one of the best sounding, and its companion piece makes it an even better value.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Serenata: A Bouquet of Favorites for Strings (CD review)

Antonio Janigro, I Solisti di Zagreb. Vanguard Classics SVC-142.

If you laid all the albums of string music in the world end to end, some hot new group would try to rerecord all of them. No need to rerecord this collection, though. It contains some splendid music, almost every short favorite for strings you can name. The amazing thing is that Vanguard Classics recorded them so long ago, 1957 and 1962. The recordings were good in their day and they're good now, even if some listeners may not appreciate all of the interpretations.

Every performance is as lively and energetic as you'd expect from this conductor and ensemble, Antonio Janigro and I Solisti di Zagreb, and from the repertoire represented. The program starts with a zesty rendition of Albinoni's Concerto a cinque in B-flat Major, with sonics of startling presence. The Super Bit Map remastering has not only clarified the sound, it has eliminated most of the background noise between the notes. However, it has not removed all of the noise accompanying the notes, so what we get can sound slightly rough or fuzzy at times.

Antonio Janigro

The recordings themselves are a bit forward and bright, anyway, and the result is a little disconcerting at first. But one soon adjusts. The first nine tracks come from 1957 and actually sound the best of the lot; the later 1962 tracks display a fraction more static and low-end rumble.

Following Albinoni, there are Boccherini's familiar Minuet and Haydn's equally famous Serenade, requisite numbers in these kind of collections and pieces I continually mistake for one another. Janigro and his group do up both of them lovingly. The centerpiece of the album is Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, performed with as much verve as one could want. If it doesn't come across quite as smoothly Marriner's or as effortlessly as Boskovsky's, it's close.

Also on hand are Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3; Paradis's Sicilienne; Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on "Greensleeves," especially moving; Pergolesi's Concertino in G; Sibelius's Valse Triste; and, finally, a rather quick-paced version of Barber's Adagio for Strings that I had heard before from Janigro on an all-Barber anthology. This last one may be a matter of taste; Stokowski and Toscanini took it at about seven minutes; Janigro does it in six, although it doesn't sound particularly hurried, just a little too straightforward for my taste. I think, perhaps, the conductor was better in early music.

Overall, though, this is a fine collection of music, very well played. The audio, if not turned up too loudly, can sound superb as well. The collector will have most of these pieces already in his or her music library, but still a warmly recommended disc.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Respighi: Feste romane and Pini di Roma (CD review)

Also, Rimsky-Korsakov: Le Coq d'or, suite. Lorin Maazel, the Cleveland Orchestra. Decca Legends 289 466 993-2.

Let's ignore for the time being the Roman Festivals, which are mostly noisy and bombastic, and concentrate on the late Maestro Lorin Maazel's interpretation of the Pines of Rome. It is among the best available.

Recorded in 1976, Maazel's performance is colorful, sometimes splashy, sometimes subtle, always vivid, and picturesque, everything you'd want from these miniature tone paintings. Maazel's rendering of them doesn't, perhaps, convey quite the individual expression of Fritz Reiner's classic set (RCA "Living Stereo" or the JVC XRCD remastering), but they come close. More important, they culminate in one of the best, most exciting versions of "The Pines of the Appian Way" you'll find. We hear the Roman legions first, of course, from a distance, their march coming closer and closer, sounding all the more ominous as they approach. When they reach our vantage point, the effect is staggering, especially if you have a good subwoofer.

Lorin Maazel

Paired with the two Respighi works we find an agreeably colorful reading of Rimsky-Korsakov's suite from Le Coq d'r, (The Golden Cockerel). It may not be the most exciting rendition around, but it does provide an all-around pleasant listening experience. The Cleveland Orchestra play terrifically well for Maazel, with plenty of professional enthusiasm evident.

Decca's 1976 sound for the Cleveland Orchestra didn't always impress me as much as Columbia's (Sony's) did in the old Szell days, but this transitional recording, remastered in Decca's "Legends" series in 2000 radiates much the same energy and presence. There is a decent orchestral perspective, decent front-to-back dimension, some small smothering of the mid frequencies, and tremendous bass.

Yes, tremendous bass, important in numbers like the aforementioned "Appian Way," as well as in the "Catacombs" and the "Epiphany" from Feste romane. Remastered in 96kHz, 24-bit digital sound in Decca's "Legends" series, the audio is perhaps a hair smoother and more transparent than it was in their older Ovation line, to which I compared it. And I much prefer the new coupling to that of the previous coupling, too.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click on the forward arrow:

Respighi: Pines and Fountains of Rome (HQCD review)

Charles Munch, New Philharmonia Orchestra. HDTT HQCD268.

Listeners today probably know Maestro Charles Munch best for his RCA recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he led from 1949 to 1962. Regardless, he made numerous recordings with other orchestras, among them several for Decca in the late Sixties. HDTT (High Definition Tape Transfers) remastered the present disc from a Decca/London Phase-4 recording Munch made with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in 1967. Munch was as good as ever, but the Phase-4 processing brings with it its usual advantages and disadvantages.

The HDTT remaster contains two of Italian musician, teacher, and composer Ottorino Respighi’s (1879-1936) most-celebrated works, the Pines and Fountains of Rome. Respighi wrote them as a part of his Roman Trilogy after studying with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which may have been where he got the idea for creating his pictorial material. Munch’s way with them is perhaps not so distinctive as that of Fritz Reiner in his Chicago Symphony recording (RCA or JVC) nor as smoothly sophisticated as that of Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony (Decca), but the performances are vigorous and colorful, nevertheless.

Although Respighi wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), the Pines of Rome (1924) starts the program, possibly because it’s the most-popular work Respighi ever composed. Munch opens “The Pines of the Villa Borghese” with a huge splash of color, which sounds rather fierce but soon enough settles into an appropriately solemn but never gloomy tone for “The Pines Near a Catacomb.” After that, the third-movement “Pines of the Janiculum” (a hill in Rome, once the center of the Janus cult) remains in Munch’s hands a peaceful nocturne, beautifully serene and complete with its familiar nightingale at the end. Respighi’s big finale, “The Pines of the Appian Way,” may be the single most-famous thing Respighi ever wrote. The movement provides the scene for ancient Roman soldiers returning to Rome along the Appian Way, the sounds of their marching footsteps interrupting the stillness of the setting. Munch develops it nicely, building a reasonably strong sense of drama and excitement until the music reaches its climax. The performance is perhaps not so graphic or high-powered as those of Riccardo Muti (EMI) or the aforementioned Reiner, but it’s effective, nonetheless.

The Fountains of Rome sounds more festive to me than the Pines, more colorful, more descriptive, and less ostentatious. Each of the four movements describes a well-known fountain in Rome. As we progress through a day in the city, we hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music at last receding into silence as night falls.

The town awakes with “The Fountain of Valle Giulia at Dawn,” one of Munch’s best spots in the program. There is an appealingly quiet yet cheery feeling about it. “The Triton Fountain in the Morning” energizes the town and the listener, Munch giving it an extra brilliance. “The Trevi Fountain at Noon” is just as grand and impressive as we expect it to be. Then, “The Fountain of the Villa Medici at Sunset” completes the show, with Munch communicating the sun going down with utmost tranquility and only a tinge of melancholy as the day closes.

The Decca engineers recorded the music at Kingsway Hall in 1967, utilizing their controversial Phase-4 recording process. Decca started using Phase-4 in 1961, a system that took multi-miking to the extreme and directed signals to ten and twenty-channel consoles before being mixed down to two-channel stereo. In terms of classical orchestral music, the sonic results ranged from flat, bright, and compartmentalized to spectacularly clear and dynamic (although often in a gimmicky, “hi-fi” manner, with whole sections of the orchestra coming to life and then fading away, occasionally provoking a hole-in-the-middle effect). Because the folks at HDTT work from original, commercially available tapes and LPs, neither adding nor subtracting anything (except in the case of a little discreet noise reduction), their remastering of the Pines and Fountains illustrates most of the benefits and liabilities of the process.

Let me put it this way: Listeners will either love or hate the sound of the album. There’s not a lot of room for opinions in between. Let’s start with the disc’s high points: As with HDTT’s other remasterings, this one retains the original recording’s wide dynamic range and impact. There is also very low distortion involved, with clean transients throughout. And the all-important midrange displays a commendable naturalness, smoothness, warmth, and transparency.

Be that as it may, there are downsides. The top end is pretty hot, especially noticeable at the beginning of “The Pines of the Villa Borghese,” which highlights every high-end percussion instrument in the orchestra. That said, the highs are quite clean, so while they may sound forward or bright, they are not harsh or grating. We also hear a sectioning-off of the sound, at times one or the other speaker falling almost silent. The Decca engineers didn’t appear to treat the center of the orchestra too well, either. In addition, and somewhat surprising, Decca’s engineers failed to capture all the bass they could have and made no attempt to replicate any sense of orchestral depth.

Finally, there are only some forty-odd minutes of content on the disc, which may seem short measure. Keep in mind, however, that that’s all Decca provided on the original recording, so it’s all HDTT provide as well. Besides, it may be a blessing in disguise not getting the most-common coupling, the third part of the trilogy, The Roman Festivals, they’re such bombastic pieces.

For further information about the various formats, configurations, and prices of HDTT products, you can visit their Web site at http://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/storefront.php.

To hear a brief excerpt from this album, click here:


JJP

Respighi: Roman Trilogy (CD review)

Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome. Riccardo Muti, the Philadelphia Orchestra. EMI 50999 0 97988 2 3.

Italian musician, teacher, and composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) wrote his Roman Trilogy after studying with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which may have been where he got the idea for creating such pictorial material. Riccardo Muti and his Philadelphia Orchestra offer up excellent interpretations of all three parts of the Trilogy, the Fountains, Pines, and Festivals of Rome. Perhaps they are not quite so distinctive as those of Fritz Reiner in his old Chicago Symphony recording of the Fountains and Pines (RCA or JVC) nor as smoothly sophisticated as those of Charles Dutoit and his Montreal Symphony (Decca), but they are quite well characterized, nevertheless.

Although Respighi wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), it's the Pines of Rome (1924) that opens the disc, possibly because it's the most-popular work Respighi ever composed. The Pines opens with a big splash of color in "The Pines of the Villa Borghese," which Muti treats in appropriately bright, splashy fashion. The fact is, Muti's accounts of the three scores are among the best, most vivid you'll find. Then the second movement, "Pines Near a Catacomb," is initially gloomy until Muti opens the music up to a sincere melancholy, longing, and finally regal dirge. After that, Muti makes the third movement, "del Giancolo" pines, with its song of the nightingale, as lovely as I've heard, the tone relaxed and serene. It is a prelude, really, to the big finale, the "Pines of the Appian Way," possibly the single most-famous thing Respighi ever created. The march of ancient Roman soldiers as they return home along the Appian Way interrupts the tranquility of Nature and the chirping birds. Here, Muti captures the mounting urgency of the music, moment by moment, pretty well until it reaches a fevered climax, and Muti pulls out all the stops.

The Fountains of Rome are more festive and, for me, more colorful and descriptive than the Pines of Rome. Each of the four movements describes a celebrated fountain in Rome, the music, as in the other works, playing without a break. We hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music finally fading away into silence as night falls. In the Fountains, Muti is even more expressive than he was in the Pines. I love the way he flirts with Respighi's flashes of light and shadow throughout, and in the "Trevi al meriggio" fountain, Muti is at his best.

The Roman Festivals (1929) are for me (and probably many other listeners) the least-successful parts of the Trilogy. Respighi appears to have been trying to top himself in the work, and the music becomes somewhat hectic and bombastic as a result. At least Muti doesn't vulgarize the score, but there's not a lot he can do with it in any case.

EMI recorded the music at Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, in November of 1984. The engineers appear to give us on this 2011 reissue a transfer made for their first CD release of the material back in 1985. I could hear no differences in direct comparisons. Still, there's nothing wrong with that, since the sound is fairly decent. There is a forward quality in the upper midrange, however, that results in a certain degree of shrillness at times; it may or may not distract one from the performances, and in any case it comes and goes. The celebrated Philadelphia strings provide a velvety sheen, yet the sound does not seem so well upholstered as from some other recordings of this music. There's a slightly lean tendency to the EMI Philadelphia sound most of the time, with a wide range, solid impact, and reasonably deep bass. Still, it's not as impressive sonically as the Reiner disc I alluded to earlier, recorded, amazingly, in 1959.

JJP

Respighi: Orchestral Music (CD review)

Ancient Airs and Dances; The Birds; Brazilian Impressions; Fountains of Rome; Pines of Rome. Antal Dorati, Philharmonia Hungarica, London Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Newton Classics 8802048 (2-disc set).

With the major record companies releasing fewer and fewer new or reissued recordings, it's good to have a company like Newton Classics taking up the slack. They have been re-releasing older classic material from Decca, DG, EMI, Mercury, Philips, and the like in original sound and at a reasonable price. Such is the case here, with this two-disc, 2011 reissue of orchestral works by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), which contains five of his best-known, most-popular pieces. While the performances and sound do vary somewhat in quality, with conductor Antal Dorati leading three different orchestras in three different recordings, it's hard to argue about the cost.

Disc one contains the best performances and the best sound in the set. However, it is also probably the least well known music. Respighi was primarily a composer of tone poems, little musical impressions, his work based largely on sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth-century forms and ideas. The first disc contains only one set of compositions, Respighi's complete Ancient Airs and Dances, three suites that he wrote in 1917, 1923, and 1932, based on various Renaissance works for lute by Vincenzo Galilei, Simone Molinaro, and others. Dorati recorded the suites in 1958 with the Philharmonia Hungarica for the Mercury label in their "Living Presence" series, and when Philips remastered most of the titles in the old Mercury series for CD in the Nineties, they thought so highly of Dorati's Ancient Airs and Dances, it was one of the first things they brought out.

So, here's the thing:  If you don't already own Dorati's performance of the Ancient Airs and Dances either on the regular CD or the later SACD, this is a chance to get the stereo version in a two-disc set for essentially the price of one disc. The interpretations are elegant, stately, gracious, and infectious, moving perhaps more slowly than some rival renditions, and not done on period instruments, but with the utmost feeling and attention to historical detail. The music is wonderfully melodic, rhapsodic even. Almost equally as important, the sound is smooth and warm yet entirely natural and realistic. In comparing this first disc to my older copy of the work on a reissued Philips/Mercury CD, I found no difference between them.  In other words, you're getting the best-possible mastering of the product.

Although disc two contains four more of Respighi's works, his most-popular material, I can't say I liked Dorati's performances in them anywhere nearly as much as I did in his Ancient Airs and Dances. The disc opens with Gli uccelli (The Birds), which the composer wrote in 1927. He based each segment of the work on Baroque music that imitated various birds. We get a "Prelude" based on music by Bernardo Pasquini, "La colomba" ("The Dove") on music by Jacques de Callot, "La gallina" ("The Hen") on Jean-Philippe Rameau, "L'Usignolo" ("The Nightengale") on an unknown writer, and "Il Cucu" ("The Cuckoo") on music by Bernardo Pasquini. These pieces are more festive and playful than the Ancient Airs and Dances, even if Dorati doesn't approach them in quite as lively a spirit or with as much charm as some of his competitors, like the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (DG), Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (EMI), or Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony). Moreover, the 1957 Mercury sound with the London Symphony Orchestra is not quite as lustrous as that for the Philharmonia Hungarica. However, during the same recording sessions with the LSO, Dorati also did Respighi's Brazilian Impressions (1928), which come off with greater color and pizzazz.

The second disc ends with Respighi's big guns, the Fountains of Rome (1916) and the Pines of Rome (1924), both suites played by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and recorded by Mercury in 1960. Unfortunately, these are the least effective of Dorati's performances and the least well recorded. Frankly, compared to several other conductors in these works, they sound rather plodding. They don't seem as vigorous, as exhilarating, or as vivid as versions by Reiner (RCA), Muti (EMI), Batiz (Naxos), Lopez-Cobos (Telarc), Dutoit (Decca), or any number of others. Nor did I find the sound of Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony as full-bodied, as smooth, as extended, or as powerful as the sound on some the other competing discs I mentioned, especially the superb old Reiner recording.

Nevertheless, as I say, when you're getting the second Dorati disc practically as a gift from Newton Classics, who can argue?

JJP