Customer Reviews

Respighi: Pines of Rome; The Birds; Fountains of Rome

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

 

 

Ever since Toscanini's RCA recordings (early 1950s), these Respighi tone poems have been played as sonic block-busters, with engineering to match. It seems everybody's idea of this music is driven by the last section of "The Pines of Rome," which famously evokes a march of Roman legionnaries via a steady crescendo of orchestral volume that finally explodes in an orgy of brass playing. But there are subtler pleasures in these pieces, especially in "The Fountains of Rome," and in this recording I've finally found Respighi performances that sound like music, not noise. Not that conductor Louis Lane and the fine Atlanta orchestra underplay the parts that need it; there's plenty of drama here, trust me. But Lane was an assistant to legendary conductor George Szell in Cleveland for many years, and he clearly learned how to achieve proper orchestral balances, even when working with the massively large orchestra favored by late Romantic composers like Respighi. For once, Respighi's orchestral texures register with the necessary nuance and subtlety.

Telarc's sound complements Lane's approach with an appropriate acoustic: very "hi-fi," but not in your face. Instead of garishly spotlighting individual sections, Telarc works its magic to ensure that the entire orchestra registers with a marvelous warmth. Given the subtleties of Lane's approach, I think it's no accident that he chose to couple "Pines" and "Fountains" with Respighi's suite "The Birds" rather than with the more glitzy "Roman Festivals." "The Birds" ("Gli Uccelli") is a Renaissance/Baroque pastiche cut from the same cloth as Respighi's perennially popular "Ancient Airs and Dances." So if you love the Respighi of the "Ancient Airs" and abhor the composer of the flashier tone poems, buy this CD. It may just be the Respighi disc of your dreams! Final word: "Louis Lane and the Atlanta Symphony" might not have the cache of Toscanini/NBC, Bernstein/New York, Karajan/Berlin, and God-knows how many other high-powered teams that have recorded this music. But for my money, this very musical Telarc CD beats the competition hands down. Also note that this is one of many late 1980s Telarc digital CDs that the company has reissued in a new budget series. Same great Telarc sound and sophisticated packaging, but at a very nice price!

This review applies to the works -Pines of Rome-,
-The Birds-, and -Fountains of Rome- performed by
the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and conducted by
Louis Lane on Telarc.
Listening and enjoyment and enthusiasm are all
subjective elements which can't be "quantified" for
everyone's satisfaction. I can only say that I
have "perfectionist" ears and eyes, so I have
real trouble finding personally satisfying sound
reproduction devices as well as particular versions
of classical works which I "get into." There
are some other versions of this work which I like
very much also, conductor Daniel Gatti's with the
Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, conductor
Giuseppe Sinopoli's with the New York Philharmonic
on Deutsche Grammophon, and conductor Jesus Lopez-
Cobos with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on
Telarc.
What makes me decide to review Lane's recording is
his concern with tempo and dynamics...the transition
from the sunny brilliance of the Pines of the Villa
Borghese to the dark, quiet mystery and softness of
the Pines Near a Catacomb is a wonder, and for me,
breath-taking. The sound clarity and "presence" of
this Telarc recording are outstanding. In the
Pines of the Villa Borghese you can hear the
instruments giving out percussive effects to imitate
the toys of the children. But it is the sunny,
sparkling brilliance and tempo of the orchestra
as well that make this piece scintillating!
Of all of the pieces in the Pines, my own particular
favorite (for its associations) is the Pines of the
Janiculum -- that dreamy, lyrical, almost mystic
portrayal of moonlight among the pines and the
lyrical warbling of the nightingale. I am somewhat
of a connoisseur of the warbling nightingale in these
recordings. I don't like Von Karajan's nightingale; it
does not have the echoing resonance of the symphony
hall, but sounds as if it is recorded in nature; and
the Von Karajan nightingale only tweets, it doesn't
have the glorious, full-throated warble of the
Lane nightingale and some of the other recordings.
The gentle piano introduction to the Janiculum in
the Lane recording, the harmonious pacing -- very
lyrical and peaceful and haunting (in beauty, not
grief or languid weariness), the soulful clarinet,
the caressing strings...all give this recorded
version optimal stars from me.
-- Robert Kilgore.

This is one of the finest performances of these pieces. Under Lane's direction, the Orchestra sounds magnificent and they are in absolute top form. The sound from this Telarc disc can only be described as ravishing. At times, the orchestration, together with the performance and the recording all combine to create some of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard from an orchestral recording. The engineering is magnificent and this is probably the best sound that Telarc has ever achieved. This is an audiophile's dream recording. Buy this disc and it will give you a lifetime of listening pleasure.

After seeing Disney's "Fantasia 2000" in the Summer of that year I realized that I had found a new love of Classical music in Respighi's 'Pines of Rome.' I quickly picked up the soundtrack album with James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a superb, although abbreviated, performance of 'Pines' for the Fantasia sequel. However this little snippet did not keep me satisfied. For my birthday later that year my father gave me this album of Louis Lane and the Atlanta S.O. performing 'Pines,' 'The Birds,' and 'Fountains.' I was mesmorized by Respighi's music and the images and feeling conjured when listening to it. I had fallen in love.

Naturally this album holds a special place in my heart even today after collecting nearly every Respighi album I could put my hands on. So that makes it doubly difficult for me to critique it. At the very least, this is a fine performance. The tempi are consistent, if a little on the slow side (the 'Fountain at Trevi' being the most clear example). The brass section is strong and stingy (just the way Telarc likes it) sometimes at the expense of loosing the strings in the mix. Louis Lane clearly understood the moods and images Respighi yearned for in his days of composition and succeeds in conveying those through the players.

Technically speaking, this is a beautifully captured performance, no doubt benefiting from Telarc's pure digital recording and mixing methods. I have never heard bass such as that in the climax of 'Pines Near a Catacomb.' When you buy a Telarc Digital album you can be assured there is a high level of clarity; that you will be able to distinguish between all types of instruments during both the soft, gentle moments, and during the greatest crescendos. This CD is no exception.

My only real gripe is that there is no 'Roman Festivals' on this CD to complete the Roman Tone Poem Triptych. I would have loved to hear how Lane handled the most infamous of Respighi's Poems. Instead of the intensity of 'Festivals' we get the frivolity of 'The Birds.' While containing a few light themes to whistle when you're stranded from your music, 'The Birds' seem merely an exercise in orchestral personification. I suppose only so many albums can contain all three poems before it becomes a stale program. The good news is that Telarc released an album with 'Festivals' and 'Church Windows' in 1994 by Jesus Lopez-Cobos and the Cincinnati S.O., another terrific sounding album.

Lane's Pine's of Rome is full of life, yet lacking fire. This is a great recording from the earlier generation ASO, but I would certainly bet they could do it better with a little more beef and a different conductor.

Down through the years, I have heard many performances of Respighi's "Pines of Rome" and his "Fountains of Rome". To be honest, I have really never had too much appreciation for the aforesaid works as I have heard them. That has changed with this splendid Telarc recording with the Atlanta Symphony conducted by Louis Lane.

Thanks to this 1985 Digital recording at an unbelievable price of $9.98, I have far more appreciation for the subject works really enjoying them for a change. Louis Lane and the Atlanta Symphony play the "Pines of Rome" and "Fountains of Rome" (the descriptive "The Birds" is also included) clearly and not as heavy and dense sounding to me as I have heard in other recordings. All of the orchestra parts are very distinguishable to me. All in all, I really enjoyed this wonderful sounding recording.

If the majesty that was Rome fascinates you, then this Cd is for you. Nothing communicates the power of ancient Rome like the Pines of Rome or the Fountains of Rome. You feel the grandeur and your mind summons up classical images of the great works of antiquity, from the Aqueduct, Pantheon, Agora, Colosseum, to the seven hills.

Ottorino Respighi is one of the best composers of modern classical music, along with Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc, Hanson, and Shostakovich. In this recording, we hear Gli Uccelli, Pini di Roma, and Fontane di Roma. In this review, I'm going to talk about Pini di Roma and Fontane di Roma.

Pini di Roma, also called Pines of Rome, is a wonderful symphonic poem by Respighi. It has been adopted to film in "Fantasia 2000" and is my favorite work by Respighi. It is made up of 4 sections that are part of one big movement. The first section is called Pines of the Villa Borghese and is in B-flat. It is a lively piece of music featuring a lot of triangle, trumpet, and other instruments which make it sound majestical. The second movement, Pines of the Catacombs, is slightly darker and mysterious in the beginning, but it climbs to it's climax and then finishes off strangely. The third movement, Pines of the Janiculum, is the lightest and starts off in a maritime piano piece and then features soft music. In some recordings, a bird can be heard chirping in this section, since that was the original idea that Respighi had. The fourth movement, Pines of the Appian Way, is also in B-flat and is the best one of them all. It starts out with a constant march and that march follows the song the whole time as it gets louder and louder until it reaches the grand finale.

Foutnains of Rome is another wondeful symphonic poem by Respighi and Pines of Rome was written as a sequel. The first movement is a quiet little movement which creates the scene of a foutain at dawn and has a magical sound to it. The second movement is the shortest and has a great part for the trumpets towards the end. The third movement is the greatest of them all and is in E major. It is about the Trevi Fountain at Midday and bears a striking resemblence to the finale of Pines of Rome. The fourth movement is quieter and more mysterious and features chimes dinging throughout the whole thing and eventually to the quiet and relaxing ending.

I cannot give an unbiased review of any recording of Respighi's "The Birds". It along with Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Mozart Horn Concertos remain in my earliest memories of music. I would ask for "The Birds" which was an incredibly long piece taking several 78's.

So I buy it now with other pieces to fill a CD. It still is an excellent piece of music to introduce children to the world of concert music - what more fun can you have than instruments sounding like cuckoos, hens, doves ...

The Pines of Rome and the Fountains of Rome require a somewhat older audience but is enjoyable by school ages.

I would tend to classify this Respighi as "classical pops" e.g. the repetoire of the Boston Pops and the equivalent "summer light" orchestras. And this recording is merely satisfactory - an orchestra sliding by on their competence not giving their all for an inspired rendition.

But the mix of three delightful classical lights on this album makes it worth picking up for sheer fun.

Until recently, I was not aware of the classical music of Ottorino Respighi. But I have to admit that his music has made an impression on me ever since I listened to an old record of his material. Subsequently, I acquired this CD, and I am glad that I did. All three of the CD's pieces are enjoyable--"Pines of Rome," "The Birds," and "Fountains of Rome." My favorite of the three is "Pines of Rome," one of my favorite classical music compositions in general. The CD's sound quality is also nice. The music is performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Louis Lane. The CD booklet includes an essay of Respighi, too. In addition, the CD's cover illustration is not only attractive, but also captivating. The CD is just over 54 minutes. Actually, I rate this piece of work 3.5 stars. It is recommendable.