Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Dances & Airs

Ottorino Respighi (Composer), Antal Dorati (Conductor), Harold Lawrence (Conductor), Philharmonia Hungarica (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Philharmonia Hungarica
• Conductor: Antal Dorati, Harold Lawrence
• Composer: Ottorino Respighi
• Audio CD (May 12, 1992)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B0000057LF
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,282 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #20 in Music > Classical > Ballets & Dances > Dances
  • #57 in Music > World Music > Europe > Eastern Europe

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply -- Ravishing., December 9, 1999

By 

John Parker Marmaro "gilfaethwy" (Spring Hill, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Dances & Airs (Audio CD)

Another listener, reviewing the Neville Marriner version of these three suites by Ottorino Respighi, called it "the most beautiful music one is likely to hear" or the like. And it is. The Penguin Guide to Classical CDs awarded this famous and magnificent recording a Rosette (its "Academy Award", so to speak). It is, simply put, almost achingly beautiful music: sometimes austere, sometimes brusque, often haunting and enchanting, or full-heartedly joyous; delectably scored (Respighi was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov), stunningly played, and favored with so rich a recording quality that it hardly seems possible the recordings were made in the 1950s! This is music that soothes the spirit, engages the mind and feeds the soul--- a must for anyone who can truly appreciate-- and it SHOULD be capitalized!-- Beauty. All the recorded versions of this music are delectable and this particular version is the benchmark by which the others are judged! A true desert island recording!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dorati classic, now in up-to-date hybrid SACD format., December 29, 2004

By 

Bob Zeidler (Charlton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Dances & Airs (Audio CD)

For those already having SACD playback capabilities, or contemplating purchase of a SACD deck, this Dorati/Philharmonia Hungarica recording of Ottorino Respighi's "Ancient Dances and Airs for the Lute" has been newly released in hybrid SACD form. Below are my comments on the SACD release, covering both the SACD layer and the "redbook" CD layer. Those with (or contemplating) SACD capabilites will want to check this new release (ASIN B0001BPPN0) out; the sound quality is nothing short of mind-boggling.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Antal Dorati, Ottorino Respighi's music and I go back a long way, all the way to Dorati's mid-50s Mercury Living Presence monophonic LP of Respighi's first two parts of his Roman Trilogy ("The Fountains of Rome" and "The Pines of Rome") with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Over time, I managed to collect all of Dorati's Respighi (adding up to a total of 4 albums), first on mono LP and then on stereo LP, up to and including this Philharmonia Hungarica performance of the full suite of "Ancient Dances and Airs for Lute" (by this time, in stereo only).

For reasons that escape me (probably a temporary change in musical tastes in the interim), I hadn't yet duplicated any of these on CD when they were released on this medium. For this particular work on CD, I had been in sort of a "limp along" mode for some years, with a recording by Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica - particularly in this remastering that includes 2- and 3-channel SACD as well as the conventional CD signal that had itself been superbly remastered by Wilma Cozart Fine not all that long ago - makes it easy for me to retire that Ozawa recording.

Where Ozawa is downright flaccid interpretation-wise (despite the excellent BSO forces), Dorati's reading is rhythmically incisive where need be, warmly glowing elsewhere (in the slower sections), and beautifully luminous throughout. (Interestingly, a comparison of timings suggests otherwise: Ozawa's reading is nearly 3 minutes shorter than Dorati's, but limp nonetheless. The "tale of the tape" is often not the full picture.)

As is probably well-known, the Philharmonia Hungarica was comprised of Hungarian emigrés who escaped (most without their instruments) following the 1956 Soviet invasion. Dorati was their spiritual godfather from the outset, polishing the group into a virtuoso ensemble. (This pairing was to later record the complete symphonies of Haydn on the Decca label, a traversal that is still a milestone in classical music recording history.) This group plays as fine as any in these relatively small-scaled works (based on Italian and French lute music from the 17th and early 18th centuries), and of course is led by one of the greatest Respighi interpreters of all time.

The sound, dating from 1958 recording sessions, is fully up to the very high standards that Mercury established with its Living Presence series, perhaps the most uniformly excellent set of analog master tapes ever put together by a single label. In fact, the CD layer sound is significantly better than that on the Ozawa/BSO recording, despite the latter being some 2 decades newer. And, while the "ordinary" CD layer, with its fresh mastering by Mrs. Fine, is remarkable for its clarity, I have now had an opportunity to assess the DSD transfer from the analog master tapes to the SACD medium. In a word, it is stunning! One would never know that these sessions were from nearly a half-century ago! While the original source tapes were of course analog, they were of the highest possible analog, and the DSD reproduction of them is like "being there." Or at least like being in the studio with the engineers as they listened to the original sessions.

The playing time, at 54:32, is on the short side. Perhaps there would have been sufficient space to include either "The Birds" or "Brazilian Impressions" (other Respighi works that Dorati championed); perhaps not. Regardless, this hybrid SACD is very highly recommended.

Bob Zeidler

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still and always a legendary recording., August 2, 2004

By 

J-c (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Dances & Airs (Audio CD)

A great job from the Philharmonia of Hungary under the supreme leadership of Antal Dorati. Control, balance and careful handling of the musical nuances, this is essentially what Dorati got from his musicians during that session. The product, apart from being a truly great recording, has awe-inspiring, unmatched playing all around. If you're a fan of Respighi, or simply a collector of good instrumental music, the Ancient Dances and Airs belong to your collection.