Ottorino Respighi(1879-1936)

Started by Dundonnell, May 12, 2009, 04:05:50 AM

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Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on February 09, 2012, 01:52:13 PM
I like this performance of the Piano Concerto (Modo Misolidio). Church Windows is another favourite, especially in the Geoffrey Simon version on Chandos.
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I wonder how this version of Concerto in Modo Misolidio compares with the Tozer/Downes recording on Chandos? Which do you prefer, Jeffrey?

John Copeland

Quote from: vandermolen on February 09, 2012, 01:52:13 PM
I like this performance of the Piano Concerto (Modo Misolidio). Church Windows is another favourite, especially in the Geoffrey Simon version on Chandos.
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Jeffrey, you kindly sent me that Church Windows a few years ago.  :o  I sincerely hope you have your own copy again, or I will have to send it back to you!  Geoffrey Simon is excellent with it, he does not play to overblowing it, but has what can only be described as a well thought out delivery, no matter how dramatic the piece.

vandermolen

Quote from: Mirror Image on February 09, 2012, 01:59:22 PM
I wonder how this version of Concerto in Modo Misolidio compares with the Tozer/Downes recording on Chandos? Which do you prefer, Jeffrey?

I'd need to listen to the Tozer again. I think that I liked the Ondine and Naxos versions best.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Quote from: Scots John on February 09, 2012, 02:02:15 PM
Jeffrey, you kindly sent me that Church Windows a few years ago.  :o  I sincerely hope you have your own copy again, or I will have to send it back to you!  Geoffrey Simon is excellent with it, he does not play to overblowing it, but has what can only be described as a well thought out delivery, no matter how dramatic the piece.

I do have several ( :o) copies of Church Windows (am playing the Geoffrey Simon version now - my favourite) - but many thanks John.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

#64
Quote from: vandermolen on February 09, 2012, 02:49:03 PM
I'd need to listen to the Tozer again. I think that I liked the Ondine and Naxos versions best.

Thanks for your feedback, Jeffrey. 8)

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Christo

Are we finally finished discussing the "probably dullest piano concerto ever" (as I once heard it being called on the radio).  ;D

(I myself love it though, as I am especially fond of 'later Respighi', including most compositions from the 1920s and 1930s.)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Mirror Image

#67
I really love this composer's music. Sure it may not be the most profound music and it may not tickle everyone's fancy, but, my goodness, does he know his way around the orchestra. Well when you study with Rimsky-Korsakov this is a prerequisite! ;) Anyway, some favorite works obviously the Roman Trilogy, Church Windows, Belkis: Queen of Sheba, Concerto gregoriano, Three Botticelli Pictures, and more recently the Six Pieces for Violin and Piano.

snyprrr

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 17, 2013, 08:08:53 PM
I really love this composer's music. Sure it may not be the most profound music and it may not tickle everyone's fancy, but, my goodness, does he know his way around the orchestra. Well when you study with Rimsky-Korsakov this is a prerequisite! ;) Anyway, some favorite works obviously the Roman Trilogy, Church Windows, Belkis: Queen of Sheba, Concerto gregoriano, Three Botticelli Pictures, and more recently the Six Pieces for Violin and Piano.

Six smallish pieces? I think that's the only Respighi I have. The first String Quartet is a heaven storming hot house flower, the second did not live up to my expectations. Respighi, Enescu, Kodaly,... I dunno, I've seen too many movies maybe?...

Mirror Image

Quote from: snyprrr on January 17, 2013, 08:23:14 PM
Six smallish pieces? I think that's the only Respighi I have. The first String Quartet is a heaven storming hot house flower, the second did not live up to my expectations. Respighi, Enescu, Kodaly,... I dunno, I've seen too many movies maybe?...

I like Enescu, but I'm lukewarm about Kodaly. I have a recording of some of Respighi chamber works on Chandos. Very nice recording. I need to revisit that at some point. That's where I heard Six Pieces for Violin and Piano.

Brahmsian

The Birds (Gli Uccelli) is my favourite Respighi work.  Respighi shares the same birth date as me, albeit 95 years my senior.  :D

Brahmsian

Quote from: ChamberNut on April 07, 2013, 05:15:47 PM
The Birds (Gli Uccelli) is my favourite Respighi work.  Respighi shares the same birth date as me, albeit 95 years my senior.  :D

Has anyone else heard this Respighi, or am I the only one?  ???  Doesn't seem like anyone else has mentioned it.  Perhaps I don't understand Respighi's 'idiom' if I like it.  :P

Mirror Image

Quote from: ChamberNut on April 07, 2013, 05:31:54 PM
Has anyone else heard this Respighi, or am I the only one?  ???  Doesn't seem like anyone else has mentioned it.  Perhaps I don't understand Respighi's 'idiom' if I like it.  :P

I like this work a lot, Ray, but my favorite Respighi work is Church Windows.

TheGSMoeller

#73
Quote from: ChamberNut on April 07, 2013, 05:31:54 PM
Has anyone else heard this Respighi, or am I the only one?  ???  Doesn't seem like anyone else has mentioned it.  Perhaps I don't understand Respighi's 'idiom' if I like it.  :P

I love The Birds, Ray.
Great composer, can't go wrong with any three from the Roman Trilogy (if you have the chance to ever see Pines, do it, the final Appian Way movement surrounded by offstage brass, even some showing up on the balcony, an amazing experience) and I'm a nut for his Ancient Airs and Dances.

But I've grown to really enjoy his Concerto Gregoriano for violin and orchestra immensely. Some truly lovely music.

vandermolen

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on April 07, 2013, 06:24:59 PM
I love The Birds, Ray.
Great composer, can't go wrong with any three form the Roman Trilogy (if you have the chance to ever see Pines, do it, the final Appian Way movement surrounded by offstage brass, even some showing up on the balcony, an amazing experience) and I'm a nut for his Ancient Airs and Dances.

But I've grown to really enjoy his Concerto Gregoriano for violin and orchestra immensely. Some truly lovely music.

Concerto Gregoriano is indeed a lovely work. I first heard it on the radio and thought 'this must be by Finzi or some similar British composer'! I was also captivated by the Botticelli Pictures on the radio without knowing what it was. I love the epic 'Church Windows' and there is some fine chamber music too.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

snyprrr


Scion7

This has been recorded many times, and is no doubt his most famous and most loved chamber piece (although the piano quintet is a better piece of music for those that have never heard it!) - Chung, Heifetz, Mutter, etc., have all recorded this piece.

Do any of you vinyl-huggers out there have this one?  ç1968, Vladimir Weisman-violin, Eleanor Hancock-piano

 

It's now out-of-print, of course.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

SymphonicAddict

#77
I thought I was one of the few people who loved this "loud" composer. It is nice to see that there are people who enjoy these spectacular (really hyper colored) works as much or more than I do. I think that the end of "Church Windows" is one of the most majestic fragments ever created, it blows away my tears of ecstasy and overflowing pleasure. I also enjoy a lot of "Metamorphoseon" (owns another hallucinating ending), "Belkis' Suite", the Roman trilogy (obviously), Suite no. 3 of ancient dances and airs, Toccata for piano and orchestra, Ballata delle gnomidi, Suite in G major and recently I heard the Belfagor overture, also very entertaining. I must explore even more of his amazing output.

cilgwyn

I may be one of the few (I've combed through the posts here)......but I love his Sinfonia Drammatica. Colourful orchestration,huge noisy climaxes,great tunes (imo) and completely ott! The Chandos recording is fantastic. I can't resist some "air conducting" during the noisiest bits. The second movement has a wonderful tune. Bring it on,I say! ;D

SymphonicAddict

Quote from: cilgwyn on January 01, 2017, 02:30:29 AM
I may be one of the few (I've combed through the posts here)......but I love his Sinfonia Drammatica. Colourful orchestration,huge noisy climaxes,great tunes (imo) and completely ott! The Chandos recording is fantastic. I can't resist some "air conducting" during the noisiest bits. The second movement has a wonderful tune. Bring it on,I say! ;D

I listened to it a while ago and yes, it is superb and overwhelming symphony, showing the great power of its creator! I think I should listen to it again.