I was impressed a while ago by the São Paolo Symphony Orchestra
in their Across
the Pyrenees recording with Sharon Bezaly. Having
already heard good things about this ‘Roman Trilogy’ disc, I
was confident of not having to write bad words about it, even
in a market which is filled with a wealth of alternatives for
these popular works.
Part of the thrill with this recording is having the full colourful
splendour of Respighi’s scores in SACD sound. With superb playing
and Bis’s reliably wonderful engineering you can expect to be
blown out of your seat at numerous moments. Fans of films scores
of the epic variety can find the wellspring of vast swathes
of cinematic music at source with this collection, almost every
effect in these scores having been ‘nicked’ at one time or another.
With a sumptuous sound-spectacle assured, we can settle down
and see if the performances stand up to this almost larger-than-life
scrutiny.
Beginning with the Fontane di Roma, you are immediately
impressed with the quality of the solo playing in the winds,
each little touch from the peripheral instruments, percussion,
harp – those little horn-calls and the like, beautifully present
and accurately placed in terms of balance and perspective. Powerful
horns and a sense of infinite depths of sound generate theatrical
colour and light. The second section, The Triton Fountain,
is followed by a Strauss ‘Alpine Symphony’ in miniature with
the Trevi Fountain, magnificent organ and all. Succulent
strings and sparkling orchestration in the Medici Fountain
finish off this masterful and, to my ears as good as flawless
rendition.
The Pines of Rome opens with a rowdy scene of playful
children, dizzying us with energetic games and noise. Neschling
and his band pull out all the stops, so that the plunge into
the catacombs is a shock of gloom – maximum contrast, and very
effective too. Restraint suffuses the solo instruments as they
rise above the strings, expressive but movingly respectful.
The climax which rises from those depths is truly, hair-raisingly
massive. The Pine-Trees of the Janiculum is one of my
favourite orchestral moments, and I can remember being fascinated
by those parallel harmonies and poly-tonal moments as well as
that recorded birdsong from childhood. The warm expressiveness
of the strings is gorgeous here, and the clarinet and other
solos can’t fail with such a marvellous carpet on which to walk.
The nightingale we get here is a bit of a busy fellow and part
of something of an avian crowd, but the effect is nice enough
if perhaps lacking that last ounce of Max Ernst surrealist atmosphere.
The sense of the ‘unending footsteps’ on the Appian Way is palpable
in this recording, the low piano notes providing a rich percussive
thrum to the rhythmic drive of the movement. Oh yes, the Romans
are coming, you can be sure of that, and in this recording you’ll
not only be overawed by their huge numbers and fantastic sense
of discipline, but will also be blinded by the sunlight gleaming
from freshly polished armour and weapons. This is unstoppable
ceremonial and actual power embodied in sound, and only wonderfully
inspiring if you happen to be on the right side.
John Neschling’s performance of this ‘Roman Trilogy’ has to
compete with a fairly recent EMI
recording conducted by Antonio Pappano, which also manages
to offer the less frequently heard Il tramonto. This
was given Recording of the Month status by Tim Perry, but has
been less well received in some quarters. My own reference is
the famous 1958/61 Philadelphia Orchestra recording with Eugene
Ormandy, available on Sony Essential Classics. This still sounds
remarkably good for its age, and there is no doubting Ormandy’s
passionate response to Respighi’s music. There are some wonderfully
atmospheric moments in this recording which have become part
of my aural DNA, as I am sure they have for many other people,
but there is no doubting the São Paolo’s qualities in terms
of technical proficiency – beating the vintage recording in
terms of intonation if nothing else.
Digital SACD recording is also the major benefit, but
the South American sense of swing in vital moments of the Feste
romane creates a sense of Mediterranean joy and sunlit abandon
which even Ormandy couldn’t manage. I was never quite so keen
on this piece, but have to admit to having been entirely converted
with this new recording. Neschling gets every ounce of oomph
out of Respighi’s over-the-top score and orchestration, and
finds and highlights themes, lets trombones rip through their
glissandi, and pitches the melodramatic impact of that killer
first movement exactly right. Having had the fear of imminent
demise put into us, the chilling atmosphere of trudging pilgrims
makes us awestruck with religious piety. There is a transformation
into that ‘hymn of praise’ which you can almost physically sense
turning the corner into “the holy city, Rome! Rome!” At last
the fun can start, and The October Festival allows the São Paolo
players to start showing us how they can get into that groove
of sleazy sumptuousness which is irresistibly southern. The
mandolin solo kicks in at 4:17: another unforgettable master-stroke
from Respighi the brilliant orchestrator, but let’s also not
forget the stunning violin solos from orchestral leader Cláudio
Cruz. The final Epiphany is the best I’ve heard either
on record or in the concert hall, and if it doesn’t have you
dancing in one way or another then I fear a medical check-up
may be required. The São Paolo orchestra manages both energetic
virtuosity and magnificent wit, and this movement is quite literally
a blast.
So, as you may have gathered, I am quite enthusiastic about
this recording of Respighi’s ‘Roman Trilogy’. As far as I’m
concerned it has everything, and in having everything can stand
against all comers in its field. Bravo!
Dominy Clements
DOWNLOAD
REVIEW
SACD or download from eclassical.com
(mp3, lossless and 24-bit)
This is the Download of the Month in my February 2011
Download Roundup, but it deserves a separate review in its own
right.
The accolade is as much for the eclassical download website
as for this recording. This was my introduction to the site
and it marks an auspicious beginning. It offers BIS, Signum,
Hänssler, HNH and Proprius recordings in full bit-rate mp3 and
16-bit and 24-bit lossless flac, all at a very reasonable price.
Where other sites have a standard charge, often more expensive
for lossless, or charge by the track, eclassical charges by
the second. Like Hyperion, who reduce their charge slightly
for shorter recordings, but without the per-second finesse of
eclassical, flac and mp3 come at the same price, for this site
stated in US dollars. This Respighi recording costs $7.52 ($11.28
for 24-bit), which works out very reasonably by comparison with
classicsonline.com who charge £7.99 for 320k mp3 BIS downloads
and Passionato.com, who charge £7.99 and £9.99 for 320k mp3
and lossless respectively. Most eclassical downloads, like this
one, come with a pdf booklet.
The lossless flac download of the Respighi Trilogy is
excellent and the performances are every bit as fine as Dominy
Clements states in his review above – a well-deserved Recording
of the Month. Don’t forget that Pappano’s very fine EMI
recording adds Il Tramonto to the Trilogy (394429-2:
Download of the Month in October 2009 Download
Roundup. See also Tim Perry’s 2007 review).
Both versions offer plenty of zest where appropriate – and it
often is appropriate in Respighi’s cinematic music – but there
are more delicate moments and both Pappano and Neschling are
excellent at finding and responding to these. I mentioned Pappano’s
skill in holding his forces in abeyance until the right moment,
a skill which Neschling also demonstrates, in Pini del Gianicolo,
for example, and in the opening of Pini della Via Appia before
the legionaries come marching in with their hob-nail boots.
Even Feste Romane sounds less than usual to be full of
mere sound and fury. Neither Neschling nor Pappano works with
a big-name orchestra, but both the Santa Cecilia and the São
Paolo orchestras can look their better-known fellows in the
eye on the basis of these recordings.
If you already have Il Tramonto – perhaps in Tamás Vasary’s
Chandos recording which I recommended in the November 2008 Download
Roundup (CHAN8193), coupled with the charming Botticelli
Pictures and even more charming The Birds – bear
in mind that the eclassical download price takes the shorter
playing time into account: you get what you pay for, which is
much better than eMusic’s system of charging per track. Recordings
with lots of short tracks work out more expensive than the parent
CD at eMusic, sometimes hugely more expensive, whereas Mahler
and Bruckner symphonies are very inexpensive. The eclassical
system irons out all those anomalies and the mp3s are all at
the optimum 320kb/s.
I recently praised the São Paolo Orchestra in downloads of three
BIS CDs of the Villa-Lobos Chôros – see review. I had
to rely for expediency on downloads from eMusic and the Naxos
Classical Library in compiling that review. If I had had access
to eclassical then, that would have been my preferred source:
· Volume 1 (BIS-CD-1440) here
($9.25 at the time of writing)
· Volume 2 (BIS-CD-1450) here
($9.58 at the time of writing)
· Volume 3 (BIS-CD-1520) here
($9.42 at the time of writing)
Additionally the BIS recording of Villa-Lobos’s exuberant Floresta
do Amazonas is available here
($9.35 at the time of writing).
Brian Wilson
São Paolo Symphony Orchestra/John Neschling 
[63:41] 
