Ottorino Respighi - Ancient Dances and Airs (Antal Doráti)

Information

Composer: Ottorino Respighi

• (01-04) Ancient Dances & Airs, Suite No. 1
• (05-08) Ancient Dances & Airs, Suite No. 2
• (09-18) Ancient Dances & Airs, Suite No. 3

Philharmonia Hungarica
Antal Doráti, conductor

Date: 1958
Label: Mercury
http://www.deccaclassics.com/us/cat/4343042

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Review

Reference Recording: Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances by Dorati

Lustrously recorded in Vienna in 1958, this disc of Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute remains the benchmark, despite a host of more recent versions captured in modern digital sound. At the time it was released, this disc essentially had the field to itself, an almost unbelievable fact in today’s market. Dorati and his intrepid band of expatriate Hungarian musicians play all of this music with an earthy freshness and vitality that have not dated one bit, and the Mercury Living Presence engineering, despite some ambient noise that comes with the territory, offers an object lesson in natural balances and, well, “presence.” Even the harpsichord, the bane of so many recordings of this repertoire, sounds just lovely where it belongs, as a subsidiary sonority enriching the ensemble. 

It’s worth pointing out that there is a companion to this disc that you also ought to consider: Paul O’Dette’s Hyperion recording of all of the original music on which Respighi modeled his three suites. If you take the time to make the comparisons, you’ll be amazed at how respectfully Respighi has treated his material, very much as Stravinsky did in his Gallo/Pergolesi ballet Pulcinella. Respighi also chose his models shrewdly: the tunes are all marvelous. To whet your appetite, the two sound samples below offer both the original version of the exquisite balletto Laura soave, for baroque violin played by John Holloway, and Respighi’s sensitive arrangement for oboe and pizzicato strings. Whether you have the time or inclination for comparative listening (a great rainy day project) this Dorati recording remains a classic.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/respighi-ancient-airs-and-dances-0
http://www.amazon.com/Respighi-Ancient-Dances-Airs-Lute/dp/B0000057LF

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Ottorino Respighi (9 July 1879 – 18 April 1936) was an Italian composer and musicologist. He is best known for his orchestral music, particularly the three Roman tone poems: Fountains of Rome (Fontane di Roma), Pines of Rome (I pini di Roma), and Roman Festivals (Feste romane). His musicological interest in 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century music led him to compose pieces based on the music of these periods. Although Respighi was known primarily as composers of instrumental and orchestral music, he also wrote a number of operas, the most famous of which is La fiamma.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottorino_Respighi

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Antal Doráti (9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner for composition, and Béla Bartók for piano. He made his conducting debut in 1924, and over the course of his career, made over 600 recordings, mostly for Mercury Records. Doráti was especially well known for his recordings of Tchaikovsky's music. Other prominent composers in Doráti's recording career are Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky. He lived to make digital recordings, for English Decca Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antal_Dor%C3%A1ti

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