Respighi: Pini diRoma / Fontane di Roma / Feste Romane

Ottorino Respighi (Composer), Riccardo Muti (Conductor), Philadelphia Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Philadelphia Orchestra
• Conductor: Riccardo Muti
• Composer: Ottorino Respighi
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Records
• ASIN: B000002RNX
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,626 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I: I Pini Di Villa Borghese

2. II: I Pini Presso Una Catacomba

3. III: I Pini Del Gianicolo

4. IV: I Pini Della Via Appia

5. I: La Fontana Di Valle Giulia All'Alba

6. II: La Fontana Del Tritone Al Mattino

7. III: La Fontana Di Trevi Al Meriggio

8. IV: La Fontana Di Villa Medici Al Tramonto

9. I: Circenses

10. II: Il Giubileo

11. III: L'Ottobrata

12. IV: La Befana

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different views from different publications, November 17, 2005

By 

Alan Majeska "Alan Majeska" (Bad Axe, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Respighi: Pini diRoma / Fontane di Roma / Feste Romane (Audio CD)

Riccardo Muti's recording of Respighi's "Roman Trilogy" with the Phildelphia Orchestra has had different views from different publications over the years. A 1986 review in STEREO REVIEW referred to Muti's recording as "Spectacular", but a 1996 AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE review called it "over-rated, and a recording with no real bass" (referring to the engineering). I tend to view it in a more favorable light than the ARG reviewers; Muti conducts with tremendous flair, and if he glosses over some high points in the excitement of the moment, I consider this a great recording, worthy to stir the senses for the moment, which Respighi, like Richard Strauss in his tone poems, should do.

I can't give you a blow by blow description of how Muti does each movement within each work, but he has a great building climax in IV of "Pines of Rome." "Fountains" is more reflective, while "Festivals" is truly savage, and really barbaric in I, depicting the torture and slaughter of Christians at the hands of the gladiators in the Colusseum.

In short, I give Muti's Respighi 5 stars for performance, 4 stars for sound:the bass is a bit diffuse, as ARG's reviewers pointed out.

Alternatives? Ormandy/Philadelphia (Sony) for all 3; Ozawa/Boston (DG) for "Festivals" (maybe hard to find now); Gatti/Santa Cecilia (EMI) for all 3, in digital sound which is state of the art.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A putative tie-breaker: Muti over Dutoit, March 24, 2003

By 

MARTIN SELBREDE (GEORGETOWN, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Respighi: Pini diRoma / Fontane di Roma / Feste Romane (Audio CD)

Having heard both Muti's and Dutoit's Respighi excursions, Muti gets the nod as the best Roman trilogy on CD. The first reviewer lamented lost impressionistic detail in the Muti that Reiner, and later Dutoit, allegedly bring out. This is only partially true -- sometimes the contrast is not between detail and no-detail, but rather on emphasis. De gustibus non disputandum - there's no disputing a matter of taste. If there's a reference recording to reflect Respighi's intent, it would have to be that of his good friend, Toscanini. And Toscanini was never happy with the inability of recording engineers to handle Respighi's intent (neither with the same Philadelphia orchestra Muti conducts here, nor with the NBC Symphony). It's fair game to extrapolate from this. Rhythm does dominate Muti's interpretation; the "acceleration" alluded to by another reviewer sometimes occurring in surprisingly effective places (the beginning of the final saltarello of Feste Romane, for example). It's hard to tell how truly "authentic" either Muti or Dutoit is; e.g., it's not clear that they're using actual buccine in Pines or Festivals (Argeo Quadri apparently did). Arguably better detail is achieved by Ozawa or Tilson Thomas, but one must rule on the overall interpretation as opposed to indulging in tunnel vision. (One reviewer commends Muti's slower tempo on the finale of Pines, but it's noteworthy that Toscanini's tempo was significantly faster, presumably reflecting Respighi's preference.)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attention Brass Players! This is the one!, December 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Respighi: Pini diRoma / Fontane di Roma / Feste Romane (Audio CD)

This is THE BEST recording of the Pines of Rome and the Fountains of Rome and Roman Festivals that you will find. This is why: When you mix Riccardo Muti with Glenn Dodson, Joe Alessi, and Charles Vernon you get an amazing recording. These pieces are some of the most exciting in the repetoire and Philadelphia steps up to it. To many times have I heard people take Pines of the Appian Way too fast, including the "praised" Dutoit recording. Personally, I just don't think that Montreal has the brass section to even hold a candle to Philadelphia's. Please don't pass up this recording for Dutoit's. I've heard them and like I said, it just can't compete with this. It is this recording alone that made me look for Muti/Philadelphia recordings before anyone else. TRUST ME! This is the one. These pieces were written for the mighty Rome and there is no mightier a brass section than this one. On a scale from 1 to 10, this is a.... oh, wait you can't count as high as this recording should be. You can't beat Dodson, Alessi, and Vernon. I mean come on! This recording should have as many stars as there are in space. Pines, Fountains, and Festivals are exciting and loud, so you shouldn't pass this one up!!!