This
fine recording has been available for a while, and has established
itself as a major contender, even in this highly competitive
territory. The beauty of the disc is that it combines two
of Respighi’s most recorded works – Fountains of
Rome and Pines of Rome – with a far less well-known work, the rather forbiddingly titled
Metamorphoseon Modi XII. This seems to be the only
recent recording available of this piece, and as such is an
important addition to the catalogue.
Metamorphoseon
turns
out to be a splendid and highly entertaining set of variations.
The theme on which it is based is a rather beautiful one,
with a strongly modal flavour (in this case it’s the ‘Aeolian’
mode that is used). This gives the melody its distinctly antique
quality, a characteristic that you find frequently in Respighi’s
music (though the opening does also sound remarkably like
Vaughan Williams – try using the passage for an ‘Innocent
Ear’ experiment on a musical friend!). The theme, though
predominantly minor, always finishes with a switch to the
major (a so-called tierce de Picardie), and these features
make it easy to identify through the many transformations
that follow.
The
variations, or ‘Modi’, are mostly quite short, some less than
a minute. But Modus VII is the most substantial, and represents
a pivotal point in the work. Here, successive instruments
– cello, violin, horn, bassoon, flute, clarinet, harp, oboe
etc. – have extended overlapping cadenzas of great beauty,
and the music seems caught in a dream until it the graceful
Modus VIII moves us on again.
From
there, there is a sense of gathering excitement, as the texture
slowly builds up to the mighty conclusion of Modus XII. López-Cobos
and his players give a thrilling and convincing performance
of what, for me, is an undoubted masterpiece, worthy to stand
in the repertoire alongside such works as the Brahms Haydn
Variations or Elgar’s Enigma set. My only reservation
was Respighi’s rather gratuitous use of full organ for the
final chord only – a crudely sensational touch at the end
of a finely wrought piece.
The
performances of the two Roman ‘war-horses’ are on the same
exalted level. Pines comes first, with its chattering
woodwind and strings evoking children at play. The stark contrast
with the gloomy Catacombs is caught superbly, as is
the warm nocturnal ambience of the Janiculum. Here,
Respighi famously – and highly controversially – introduced
the recorded song of a nightingale. A bad mistake in my view;
I recall a Proms performance a year ort two back when the
members of the audience who had either chosen not to consult
their programmes or couldn’t read English anyway looked up
bemusedly to the heights of the Albert Hall, trying to locate
the bird that was ‘interrupting’ the music. On any level,
this is an aesthetic misjudgement by Respighi, though fortunately
brief enough to be a small ‘glitch’ in the overall work.
And
of course, what follows is memorable. I Pini della Via
Appia – Pines of the Appian Way - has established itself as one of the great orchestral show-pieces
of the 20th century. And López-Cobos certainly
builds his climax quite wonderfully well, avoiding the temptation
to let rip too soon. However, there is a slight reservation
here to do with the recording, which is generally very fine.
The brass are balanced just too close, so that there
is a loss of perspective. This is noticeable too in the Trevi
movement of Fountains of Rome, and it simply means
that other orchestral detail is obliterated.
Fountains
of Rome,
subject to the reservation expressed above, is beautifully
done too, with quite magical atmosphere in the first movement,
capturing the early morning coolness of the fountain at the
Valle Giulia, and an equally lovely conclusion at the Villa
Medici.
If
you are primarily after the ‘Rome’ works, then my personal
vote would certainly go to the spectacular Daniele Gatti version
on RCA, with the benefit of a fine Italian orchestra (Accademia
Nazionale di Santa Cecilia), at the top of their game, though
the now quite old Muti/Philadelphia recording is certainly
still up there as a major alternative.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
Respighi
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