Ottorino Respighi(1879-1936)

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

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kyjo

Cross-posted from the WAYLT thread:

Respighi: Poema autunnale



https://youtu.be/7zOVjXbvUKI

I'm not sure why I didn't respond to this work the first time I had listened - maybe it was the recording I listened to (the one on Chandos, I believe). Anyway, this is a stunning recording of a incandescently gorgeous work that is truly Respighi at his colorful, lyrical best. A prime candidate for the "non-concerto works for soloist and orchestra" thread, for sure. I'd love to hear Julia Fischer tackle the Concerto Gregoriano now!
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Mirror Image

Quote from: kyjo on October 20, 2021, 07:50:13 PM
Cross-posted from the WAYLT thread:

Respighi: Poema autunnale



https://youtu.be/7zOVjXbvUKI

I'm not sure why I didn't respond to this work the first time I had listened - maybe it was the recording I listened to (the one on Chandos, I believe). Anyway, this is a stunning recording of a incandescently gorgeous work that is truly Respighi at his colorful, lyrical best. A prime candidate for the "non-concerto works for soloist and orchestra" thread, for sure. I'd love to hear Julia Fischer tackle the Concerto Gregoriano now!

A gorgeous work and I actually like the Mordkovitch performance very much. Perhaps you just weren't in the right frame of mind when you listened to it before?

kyjo

#202
Quote from: Mirror Image on October 20, 2021, 09:33:44 PM
A gorgeous work and I actually like the Mordkovitch performance very much. Perhaps you just weren't in the right frame of mind when you listened to it before?

Perhaps, but truth be told, I'm generally not as big a fan of Mordkovitch's violin playing as many people here on GMG. I do admire how much lesser-known repertoire she's recorded, though.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Mirror Image

Quote from: kyjo on October 21, 2021, 06:22:46 AM
Truth be told, I'm not nearly as big a fan of Mordkovitch's violin playing as many people here on GMG. I do admire how much lesser-known repertoire she's recorded, though.

Violinists, like any other soloist, have such a personal sound and style that you're either pulled in to what they're doing or you're not. Mordkovitch, like any violinist before or after her, will have her detractors. I've never had any issues with her playing and find that she plays with much feeling.

Spotted Horses

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 21, 2021, 06:26:58 AM
Violinists, like any other soloist, have such a personal sound and style that you're either pulled in to what they're doing or you're not. Mordkovitch, like any violinist before or after her, will have her detractors. I've never had any issues with her playing and find that she plays with much feeling.

I put Mordkovitch among the very best. Such a beautiful and fluid tone.
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind. - Duke Ellington

Mirror Image

Quote from: Spotted Horses on October 21, 2021, 06:53:38 AM
I put Mordkovitch among the very best. Such a beautiful and fluid tone.

She has quite an alluring sound, indeed.

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: kyjo on October 20, 2021, 07:50:13 PM
Cross-posted from the WAYLT thread:

Respighi: Poema autunnale



https://youtu.be/7zOVjXbvUKI

I'm not sure why I didn't respond to this work the first time I had listened - maybe it was the recording I listened to (the one on Chandos, I believe). Anyway, this is a stunning recording of a incandescently gorgeous work that is truly Respighi at his colorful, lyrical best. A prime candidate for the "non-concerto works for soloist and orchestra" thread, for sure. I'd love to hear Julia Fischer tackle the Concerto Gregoriano now!

Love that piece! It's like an Italian equivalent to VW's The Lark Ascending in my view, albeit I prefer Poema autunnale much more.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

kyjo

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on October 21, 2021, 12:12:30 PM
Love that piece! It's like an Italian equivalent to VW's The Lark Ascending in my view, albeit I prefer Poema autunnale much more.

Same here. Despite being a huge RVW fan, I find the Respighi work considerably more interesting.
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

vandermolen

Quote from: kyjo on October 26, 2021, 09:59:51 AM
Same here. Despite being a huge RVW fan, I find the Respighi work considerably more interesting.
And IMO Robin Milford's 'The Darkling Thrush' is best of all, much as I like the Respighi. The VW has been a bit over-exposed (top of Classical FM playlist etc) .
"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).

relm1

Quote from: kyjo on October 20, 2021, 07:50:13 PM
Cross-posted from the WAYLT thread:

Respighi: Poema autunnale



https://youtu.be/7zOVjXbvUKI

I'm not sure why I didn't respond to this work the first time I had listened - maybe it was the recording I listened to (the one on Chandos, I believe). Anyway, this is a stunning recording of a incandescently gorgeous work that is truly Respighi at his colorful, lyrical best. A prime candidate for the "non-concerto works for soloist and orchestra" thread, for sure. I'd love to hear Julia Fischer tackle the Concerto Gregoriano now!

This was a gorgeous album!  Every work was excellent and beautifully performed.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Roasted Swan

Quote from: relm1 on October 29, 2021, 04:05:11 PM
This was a gorgeous album!  Every work was excellent and beautifully performed.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Ordered a copy - great programme.  Kreizberg was a very fine conductor as well and acheived some tremendous things.  His early death was a genuine tragedy........

Mirror Image

#211
A work that seldom gets mentioned when talking about Respighi is the Belfagor Overture. What a piece! I only have two performances of it: Downes on Chandos and Neschling on BIS, but both are outstanding. Anyone else like this work as well?

https://www.youtube.com/v/KYWSkMKADb8

VonStupp

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 30, 2021, 06:36:35 AM
A work that seldom gets mentioned when talking about Respighi is the Belfagor Overture. What a piece! I only have two performances of it: Downes on Chandos and Neschling on BIS, but both are outstanding. Anyone else like this work as well?

https://www.youtube.com/v/KYWSkMKADb8

Yes, very much so. I like Balfagor's wry mood, and on that Neschling recording in particular, I favor it to the massive Sinfonia Drammatica, although that work could use a revisit from me.

VS
"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

Mirror Image

Quote from: VonStupp on October 30, 2021, 07:17:48 AM
Yes, very much so. I like Balfagor's wry mood, and on that Neschling recording in particular, I favor it to the massive Sinfonia Drammatica, although that work could use a revisit from me.

VS

Of course, I haven't heard the opera this overture comes from --- in fact, I haven't heard any of Respighi's operas. Yeah, I'm not too fond of the Sinfonia Drammatica either.

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 30, 2021, 06:36:35 AM
A work that seldom gets mentioned when talking about Respighi is the Belfagor Overture. What a piece! I only have two performances of it: Downes on Chandos and Neschling on BIS, but both are outstanding. Anyone else like this work as well?

https://www.youtube.com/v/KYWSkMKADb8
Thanks for posting that video; I hadn't heard it (or of it) before now.

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

VonStupp

#215
Quote from: Mirror Image on October 30, 2021, 07:29:11 AM
Of course, I haven't heard the opera this overture comes from --- in fact, I haven't heard any of Respighi's operas.

Oh, I assumed it was a concert overture. Color me intrigued.

It looks like the only CD recording is on Hungaroton (of the opera).

VS
"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

ritter

#216
Quote from: VonStupp on October 30, 2021, 07:41:20 AM
Oh, I assumed it was a concert overture. Color me intrigued.

It looks like the only CD recording is on Hungaroton (of the opera).

VS
I'm not that much of a fan of Respighi, but do very much like the opera Belfagor. The Hungaroton recording you mention does not include the overture which, as you assume, seems to be an independent piece. I cannot find much information, but the overture appears to be  composed one year after the opera received its premiere in 1923.

North Star

Quote from: ritter on October 30, 2021, 08:26:57 AM
I'm not that much if a fan of Respighi, but do very much like the opera Belfagor. The Hungaroton recording you mention does not include the overture which, as you assume, seems to be an independent piece. I cannot find much information, but the overture appears to be  composed one year after the opera received its premiere in 1923.

Quoth the BIS liner notes:
QuoteSome years later, in the early 1920s, Respighi composed an opera, Belfagor, to a libretto by the literary critic and poet Claudio Guastalla, who was to become his regular librettist, based on a comedy by the Florentine poet Ercole Luigi Moreselli. The opera was first performed in April 1923 but met with scant success. Aware of the quality of the opera's thematic material, and keen to avoid relegating it to obscurity, Respighi returned to the story and to some of the themes the following year to produce the orchestral overture Belfagor, independent of the opera; the overture was premièred at the Carnegie Hall in New York in February 1926, conducted by Otto Klemperer.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

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Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 30, 2021, 06:36:35 AM
A work that seldom gets mentioned when talking about Respighi is the Belfagor Overture. What a piece! I only have two performances of it: Downes on Chandos and Neschling on BIS, but both are outstanding. Anyone else like this work as well?

https://www.youtube.com/v/KYWSkMKADb8

I remember it being good fun, with a wizardry wit in there. The orchestral colour and the excitement of the work assure a formidably alluring pieces. And... I remember being thrilled by the Sinfonia drammatica, which is a hell of a great symphonic conception by a relatively young composer.

Chandos is the performance of my preference.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Mirror Image

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on October 30, 2021, 06:08:23 PM
I remember it being good fun, with a wizardry wit in there. The orchestral colour and the excitement of the work assure a formidably alluring pieces. And... I remember being thrilled by the Sinfonia drammatica, which is a hell of a great symphonic conception by a relatively young composer.

Chandos is the performance of my preference.

Your high praise of the work has certainly piqued my interest in hearing the Sinfonia drammatica again.