Ottorino Respighi - Preludio, corale e fuga; Burlesca; Rossiniana; Études-tableaux (Gianandrea Noseda)

Information

Composer: Ottorino Respighi

• Burlesca, P. 59
• Preludio, corale e fuga, P. 30
• Rossiniana, P. 148
• Five Études-tableaux, P. 160 (after Rachmaninov)

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

Date: 2005

Label: Chandos

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Review

Few composers can rival Ottorino Respighi in his exploitation of orchestral sound, not least in his arrangements of other composers' music. This splendid disc offers two important examples of his arrangements, not just the score he concocted from Rossinian fragments, but most impressive of all the re-creation of five of Rachmaninov's Etudes-tableaux, turning them into new works, at times barely recognisable against the piano originals.

It is true that Rossiniana does not match its dazzling predecessor, La boutique fantasque, in colour or memorability, but here Respighi chose Rossini pieces that are not quite so memorable, with the longest of the four movements a solemn lament, ending with hints of a funeral march. Against that third movement, the following Intermezzo is light and sparkling, with hints of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker in its use of celesta and other percussion. The Tarantella finale comes nearest to echoing La boutique fantasque, but even in that a substantial section in the middle uses a chorale-like theme to illustrate a passing procession.

On the Rachmaninov arrangements there can be no reservations whatsoever, leaving one open-mouthed at Respighi's ingenuity and imagination. The other two works date from much earlier, with the Burlesca ripe with horn-writing, and the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue even more remarkable. This is a work written as a student exercise when Respighi was only 21, already demonstrating his mastery over orchestral sound. Performances of all four works are outstanding, with the Chandos sound bringing out the full richness of Respighi's writing. How sad that he died so young.

— Edward Greenfield

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Ottorino Respighi (9 July 1879 – 18 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. He studied at the Liceo Musicale di Bologna, and also studied briefly with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His compositions range over operas, ballets, orchestral suites, choral songs, chamber music, and transcriptions of Italian compositions of the 16th–18th centuries, but his best known and most performed works are his three orchestral tone poems which brought him international fame: Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928).

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Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964) is an Italian conductor. He graduated from the Milan Conservatory and furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzetti, Myung-Whun Chung and Valery Gergiev. Noseda is currently the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.; Generalmusikdirektor of Zurich Opera; principal guest conductor of the London Symphony; and the music director of the Tsinandali Festival in Georgia. He was also Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic from 2002 to 2011, and has conducted many recordings for the Chandos label.

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