Customer Reviews

Respighi: Feste Romane; Fontane di Roma; Pini di Roma

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You will fall in love with these pieces all over again. The performances are expressive and exciting, and the tempi are great. (How could I write 'tempos' in a review of Italian music?) The recording is lucid and doesn't squash the true dynamics -- Feste III has some marvelously quiet parts as well as full-out powerful parts. You'll love it.

For years the Maazel/Cleveland recording of the Roman Festivals has been a classical guilty pleasure of mine. Very exciting music, played extraordinarily well, and despite the piece's reputation as "classical junk food" I found it a wonderful listening experience.

When I saw that the Penguin Guide made the relatively unknown Gatti/St. Cecilia recording one of their top picks (the only drawback of the recording being a too-wide dynamic range!) I thought "Yeah, right...". But the whole disc is an amazing accomplishment- Festivals, Fountains and Pines. I had no idea this orchestra could play like this.

Gatti's performance of Festivals lacks a tiny bit of the adrenaline rush and raw ferocity that Maazel brings, but only a tiny bit. Gatti's is a more "rounded" performance; little touches make it feel more paced and less "assaultive", if you will. But it lacks no excitement. It's perhaps more highly detailed than Maazel's, and in every way it's compelling and ultimately satisfying. Highly recommended!

...and if I want my socks blown off, I choose Reiner/Chicago, Muti/Philly, and Batiz/RPO. All the powerhouses feel compelled to pull all the stops, and you can't blame them. But I appear eminently able to lose my socks without having to set that to music. Simply put, Maestro Gatti and this orchestra speak Respighi's best-known tone poems with love. Try this one.

I've heard Reiner, Toscanini, Karajan, Maazel (both Cleveland & Pittsburg), Jansons, Muti, Sinopoli, Tortelier, Ormandy (both RCA & CBS), Ozawa, Dutoit, and even Bernstein in various incarnations of this music. While they all have their own merits, every single one of them has something that keeps me from being eminently satisfied, whether it be sound quality, orchestral execution, or a conductor who just doesn't get it.

Enter Gatti and the Saint Cecelia Academy, and the search for my personal "definitive" version is over. As has been mentioned on this page already, the orchestra, for being no better-known than it is, is surprisingly world-class. My experiences with Italian woodwinds, especially, have not left a good taste in my mouth. This orchestra, however, plays with a wonderfully refined sound and enough power to have me finding a building-foundation repair company in my phone book.

The best part, however, is Gatti's interpretation. He is the only conductor I have ever heard who seems to actually "experience" the little stories behind each of Respighi's tableaux and allow himself the flexibility to do so. As a major climax approaches, he might slow down ever so slightly and allow the listener a chance to revel in the moment, rather than just charge through it, stubbornly refusing to change the tempo one iota like a more "objective" conductor might do.

Or, as a woodwind solo or the violin section stretches for that top note at the peak of the melodic line, he might pause just a hairsbreadth and allow us to "float" for just a split second before we come back down again.

It's little tiny details such as this that, to most listeners, will feel as natural as breathing that separates this wonderful version from the rest. After listening to this version, I have the impression of having actually been to Respighi's Rome.

The other versions, in various degrees of excellence, nevertheless seem like a postcard by comparison.

I own almost every modern recording of Respighi's "Roman Trilogy." My favorite recording right now is Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra's reading on EMI: Respighi: Pini di Roma; Fontane di Roma; Feste Romane. The Muti performance is a sonic blockbuster and it's also highly passionate. Much more passionate, in my opinion, than Reiner's, Dutoit's, or Maazel's (Sony recording). I know very little about this conductor, Daniele Gatti, but he's not well-known and there aren't that many of his recordings available for purchase other than this recording he did with the Santa Cecilia National Academy Orchestra.

This performance is pretty good. I like the way he handled certain aspects of "Pines of Rome," which for me is the best piece of music Respighi ever wrote. I like the way Gatti handled the climax in the third movement "I pini del Gianicolo." This orchestra's playing is highly detailed, but I'm not entirely convinced. There seems to be a lack of power from Gatti. He is very good with the inner details, but ultimately, like many of Colin Davis' performances, he fails to truly rise up to the occasion and let the orchestra soar. This is a very weak version of "Roman Festivals." Muti has him beat on all fronts. Again, Gatti fails to let the orchestra rip. "Fountains of Rome" fares a little better than "Festivals," but not by much.

The overall sound quality in this recording is excellent. As mentioned by another reviewer, it does have a wider dynamic range, but this doesn't distract from the overall listening experience. This is not a first choice Respighi recording for me, but it does have a lot of merit and wonderful sonics. 3 1/2 stars