BIS BI 1720

Respighi: Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, Roman Festivals – São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, John Neschling

The Roman trilogy (the tone poems Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, and Roman Festivals) by Ottorino Respighi holds a very special place in the orchestral repertoire, challenging almost any other composition for sheer sonic audience appeal. Spectacular scenes such as the ‘Fontana di Trevi’ in the glitter of the mid-day sun, children playing under the pine-trees of the Villa Borghese, or a Roman legion marching along the Appian Way provided the masterly orchestrator with the opportunity to employ the full palette of the modern symphony orchestra, to which he added various instruments, including organ, piano, celesta, glockenspiel, mandolin, and tambourines. In fact, in the third part of Pines of Rome Respighi went even further and specified, for the first time ever in classical music, the use of a gramophone, playing a recording of the singing of a nightingale. As a result, these works glitter, shimmer, blare, and thunder: a true feast for the ear which here has found worthy exponents in the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP) and John Neschling.