Roman Trilogy: Pappano / Rome Santa Cecilia Academy Orchestra

Respighi: Roman Trilogy
Antonio Pappano, conductor
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

All three works consist of four clearly defined sections, all Roman scenarios potent with attendant drama rather than mere location settings. All three combine a unique assimilation of musical impressionism and real-time narrative within an unmistakably Italian idiom. Respighi was the first Italian composer to gain international stature in the orchestral domain and he did so as a consummate master of instrumentation

Fountains of Rome unifies the Valle Giulia, Triton, Trevi and Villa Medici fountains via a superbly conceived diversity of water imagery, realised through the passage of time at dawn, morning, midday and twilight.

Pines of Rome, completed in 1924, takes specific locations as pegs for a combination of historical and contemporary inspiration - children playing in the gardens of the Villa Borghese, the entrance to a catacomb from which an ancient, solemn chant is heard, the tranquillity of the moonlit Gianicolo Hill and finally the march of a Roman legion on the Appian Way triumphantly approaching the Capitoline Hill.

Feste Romane was premiered by Toscanini in 1929 and focusses on festivals associated with the Circus Maximus, the Jubilee, October and Epiphany. The combined celebratory zeal and orchestral virtuosity with which each festival is realised becomes increasingly riotous and wildly intoxicating as the work progresses.

Il Tramonto (The Sunset) is a work of considerably more modest proportions. Written in 1918 this version is scored for voice and string orchestra. Here he chooses an unusually contemplative text by Shelley for an intense and tender reflection on lost love amid the splendours of nature.

OTTORINO RESPIGHI:

Fountains of Rome
Pines of Rome
Il Tramonto (words by Shelley) Lyric poem for mezzo-soprano and string
Roman Festivals

Christine Rice, soprano (Il Tramonto)
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Digital Recording: 2007