Ottorino Respighi - Orchestral Works (Geoffrey Simon; Yan Pascal Tortelier)

Information

Composer: Ottorino Respighi

CD1:

• (01-04) Vetrate di chiesa, P 150
• (05-17) Metamorphoseon modi XII, P 169
• (18-21) Feste romane, P 157

CD2:

• (01-04) Fontane di Roma, P 106
• (05-08) Pini di Roma, P 141
• (09-12) Belkis, regina di Saba, P 177
• (13-15) Impressioni brasiliane, P 153

Philharmonia Orchestra
Geoffrey Simon, conductor
Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor

Date: 1984-1991
Compilation: 2013
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%20241-45

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Review

Before the Edward Downes/BBCPO project Chandos boasted two sumptuous Respighi discs with the Philharmonia and Geoffrey Simon. They appeared in 1984-85 within the half decade after the launch of the CD medium. Then in 1991 Yan Pascal Tortelier and the same orchestra recorded Respighi’s Roman triptych.

For me the central selling point here is Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows) glowingly recorded by Ormandy and the Philadelphia in 1964 on Sony-CBS but in sound that could not hope to vie with that accorded by Chandos two decades later. You need only listen to the skipping acrobatic woodwind and legato address of the strings in Metamorphoseon modi XII to realise that. That’s not the end of it, either. The plangency of the harp registers strongly. It helps greatly that for this work Chandos have retained separate tracks for each variation-metamorphosis. Respighi’s fund of colour, generously spent, defeats any concerns that these variants will have a Reger-like matte quality – quite the contrary. Feste Romane is from Tortelier. It is aptly exuberant and over the top. Who was responsible for casting encouraging smiles towards the brass benches? By heck, is this loud?!

CD 2 starts with the famous Fontane di Roma. Everything is outsize and spectacular. There is no room here for tasteful understatement; neither do we get any. This is Rimsky-Korsakov (Respighi’s teacher) on steroids. Much same goes for Pini di Roma although I wish the bubbling horns could have been given more attentive prominence. Then we return to Simon for the exotic ballet suite Belkis, regina di Saba and the Impressioni brasiliane. In Belkis Simon fires up the orchestra to match the Rimskian opulence of the sounds with a dashing and whirling exuberance redolent of El Salón México in Danza Guerresca and Danza orgiastica. It’s all worthy of the Ballets Russes. The Impressione are painted with an impressionistic brush and magic is not in short supply.

The notes are the originals from Edward Johnson (CHAN8405, 8317) and Jeremy Siepmann.

Simon – who later recorded for his own Cala label – has the measure of these rapturously profligate works, as does Tortelier.

This Chandos 2-for-1 set is irresistibly generous and lavishly recorded. I do not see a more attractive entry point for Respighi in his most eloquent and spendthrift style. Mind you we might have to fall back and regroup if Chandos ever reissue their complete Respighi-Downes series.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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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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Yan Pascal Tortelier (born 19 April 1947) is a French conductor and violinist, and is the son of the cellist Paul Tortelier. At age 14, he was a first-prize winner for violin at the Paris Conservatoire. He was principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra (1989-1992), the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (1992-2003), Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) (2009-2011) and currently, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular recording artist for Chandos Records, and has conducted commercial recordings for Chandos with the BBC Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the OSESP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Pascal_Tortelier

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