Ottorino Respighi - Ballade of the Gnomes; Three Botticelli Pictures (Geoffrey Simon)

Information

Composer: Ottorino Respighi

1. The Ballad of the Gnomes
2. Three Botticelli Pictures: I. Spring
3. Three Botticelli Pictures: II. The Adoration of the Magi
4. Three Botticelli Pictures: III. The Birth of Venus
5. Suite in G major for string & organ: I. Preludio
6. Suite in G major for string & organ: II. Aria
7. Suite in G major for string & organ: III. Pastorale
8. Suite in G major for string & organ: IV. Cantico
9. Adagio with Variations for cello & orchestra

Philharmonia Orchestra
Geoffrey Simon, conductor

Date: 1992
Label: Cala
http://www.calarecords.com/acatalog/info_CACDS4028.html

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Review

The Ballata delle gnomidi … well, yes, I suppose the accompanying booklet's ''Ballad of the gnomes'' will do, but the point about the word ballata is that it suggests dance, and no translation can convey the fact that these 'gnomes' are female … Where was I? The Ballata delle gnomidi here receives its first recording, and Respighians will be grateful for such an accomplished performance of what is an entertainingly peculiar work rather than a major rediscovery. Based on a bizarre poem by the composer's friend Carlo Clausetti, about bigamous rape and conjugicide among the Little People, it's an extended (15-minute) witches' sabbath of a piece, incorporating much sumptuous orchestration, vivid grotesquery a dawn interlude (richly dark string harmonies giving way to Hollywood lushness) of great allure, a final dance that pays the most flattering of compliments to Strauss's Salome and rather less expected overtones elsewhere of Prokofiev at moments which require a fevered luridness of colour. It's rich in event and resourceful scoring but rather poorer thematically, with striking gestures often standing in for real tunes.

The Suite in G will be ideal for those who are thoroughly fed-up with 'authentic' Bach: this is Bach (or rather 'Bach', since all the tunes are Respighi's own) like it used to be played, and with knobs on: full glossy strings, blaring organ, rich textures. The slow movement has a solemnity that could earn it the sort of popularity accorded to Albinoni/Giazotto or the Pachelbel canon. So could the Adagio and variations, though here the melody isn't neo-anything or ersatz-anybody. Expertly tailored to the cello (and most beautifully played) it demonstrates that Respighi could write an original tune without needing the prop of pastiche, its rhapsodic, rather unvarying variations sustain their duration surprisingly well. Even so, the familiar Trittico is the best music here and it's charmingly done, with elegant pointing of detail and clean colours. A decent recording, too.

-- Michael Oliver, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Nov06/Respighi_Gnomes_CADS4028.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Ottorino-Respighi-Variations-Botticelli-Philharmonia/dp/B00000FDLS

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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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Geoffrey Simon (born 3 July 1946 in Adelaide) is an Australian conductor. He was a student of Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Hans Swarowsky and Igor Markevitch. His music directorships have included the Albany Symphony Orchestra (New York), the Sacramento Symphony (California) and the Orquestra Simfònica de Balears "Ciutat de Palma" (Majorca). He has made recordings for a number of labels, including his own label - Cala Records, combining familiar works with world premieres of rediscovered obscure works by Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Smetana, Grainger, Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saëns and Les Six.

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

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