Nino Rota - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 (Marzio Conti)

Information

Composer: Nino Rota

1. Symphony No. 1 in G major: I. Allegro con moto
2. Symphony No. 1 in G major: II. Andante
3. Symphony No. 1 in G major: III. Allegro vivace
4. Symphony No. 1 in G major: IV. Largo maestoso - Poco più andante - Allegro
5. Symphony No. 2 in F major: I. Allegro tranquillo
6. Symphony No. 2 in F major: II. Allegro molto vivace
7. Symphony No. 2 in F major: III. Andante con moto
8. Symphony No. 2 in F major: IV. Allegro vivace

Filarmonica '900 del Teatro Regio di Torino
Marzio Conti, conductor

Date: 2009
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010546

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Review

Rota’s two little-known symphonies make for a quietly rewarding disc

As with Miklós Rózsa, Nino Rota is so well known as a film composer (of over 100 scores) that his concert music has all but been eclipsed. The brilliance and power of his music to The Godfather Parts 1 and 2 or Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, with its glorious setting of “What is a youth?”, are among his finest work and one will look in vain for the familiar Rota-cinematic style in the first two symphonies. The First (1935-39) is a largely pastoral affair, full of sunlit harmonies and quietly lush textures in denial of the nervous political times in which it was written, except in the grave Largo introduction to the finale. Otherwise, this is a relaxed and genial work, stylistically slightly anachronistic, with bright and breezy quick movements and a lilting Adagio: the type of piece one might expect from a master symphonist in between two weightier masterworks.

The Second (1937-39) is unsurprisingly very close in manner and spirit to No 1, which may partly account for why it waited until 1975 for its premiere (the First was unveiled in 1940). A little more varied in profile, it is less individual (reminding me in places of Ives’s Camp Meeting) but still makes a rewarding listen, especially in these lovingly prepared accounts. Conti gets to the heart of both symphonies, finding the inner warmth that eluded Ruud for BIS. The Italian orchestra (who have made several film music recordings) play Rota’s lines with greater fervour and understanding than their Swedish rivals and with sumptuous Chandos sound this is the version to have. Presumably No 3 will follow with other orchestral works in due course.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
MusicWeb International   RECORDING OF THE MONTH
https://www.allmusic.com/album/nino-rota-symphonies-nos-1-2-mw0001870605
https://www.amazon.com/Rota-Symphonies-No-1-2/dp/B002866UMQ

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Giovanni "Nino" Rota (3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores. During his long career Rota was an extraordinarily prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. He wrote more than 150 scores for Italian and international productions from the 1930s until his death in 1979, and was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Godfather Part II (1974). Alongside this great body of film work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works, the best known being his string concerto.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nino_Rota

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Marzio Conti (born 22 May 1960 in Florence) is an Italian conductor and flautist. He began his career as a flautist and made his debut as a soloist with I Solisti Veneti at the Salzburg Festival in 1981. He then dedicated himself entirely to conducting. Conti was principal conductor of the Turin Philharmonic (2001-2005), and is currently holding the posts at the Orquestra Nacional of Andorra and the Oviedo Filarmonia (since 2011). Conti has recorded Warner International, Naxos Records, Chandos Records, Real Sound Records, Classic Produktion Osnabrück and Brilliant Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzio_Conti
http://www.marzioconti.com

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