Respighi from Wuppertal
This Respighi/Wuppertal combo is impressive, offering a most worthwhile 70 minutes of listening
Good to see more Respighi to add to Classical Explorer's collection: we already have La Bella dormente, we recently covered the first video incarnaion of the opera (or is it an oratorio?) Maria Egiziaca, and then there was Alessandro Crudele's all-Respighi disc on Linn.
So we go to Germany for an all-orchestral (no overlap wit Crudele) disc on Dabringhaus und Grimm's preziosa label, an SACD of spectacular digital sound. The Perziosa is a presentation of some of Werner Dabringhaus' favourite recordings taken down early in MDG's existence. Hence the recording date: September 2000, in Wuppertal's lovely Stadthalle (there's a most impressive photo on the back of the booklet).
The Metamorphoseon (as opposed to Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen) was commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky. Respighi had conducted the Boston orchestra in 1927, and he was often championed by Koussevitzky , who had premiered Church Windows that year and who introduced Metamorphoseon on November 7, 1930. The full title is Metamorphoseon Modi XII—Theme and Variations for Orchestra and each often 12 variations is labelled as if in a mediaeval mode (mode for Respighi also means manner of transformation). There are many examples during the course of the s piece of Respighi allowing for solo instruments to shine: the horn in Modus VII, for example. There is the odd slinky Rimsky Sherehazade moment, too (Modus III). The finale is a whirlwind of activity, and the Wuppertal performance is full of energy. Each movement is finely etched by Respighi (the more I hear of his music, the more I respect him).
There have been some notable recordings in the past: Jésus Lopez-Cobos and Geoffrey Simon/Philharmonia, for example. But I do like this one: the recorded sound is phenomenal, the Wuppertal orchestra persuades us that they are world-class and we should go hear them, and Hanson has a wonderful grasp of Respighi's way with texture and colour. He shapes the movements superbly, too (try Modus IV).
In the absence of tracks on YorTube you can sample via iDagio and Spotify below ...
... and here's the Philarmonia/Simon performance, as it has a score:
Respighi's Rossiniana of 1925 is a most imaginative assemblage in orchestral garb of Rossini. It dates from five years before Metamorphoseon, and as the booklet notes point out it aligns with similar Italian tributes of the time to older Masters: Casella's Scarlattiana and Paganiniana, for example. Rossiniana is based on a set fo piano pieces by Rossini called Les Riens (probably best translated as “trifles”) The scoring is light as a soufflé. There are a number of justly admired performances already available Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic on Chandos, of course the old Beecham, and Ansemet with his Suisse Romance orchestra. But this Wuppertal performance has modern tech and real charm and, in the “Lamento,” real power. The Wuppertalers' touch is light as a feather in the third movement “Intermezzo,” while the finale has the flavour of a Vienna New Year's Day concert. ravishing, all contrasted with quietly intoning brass the Wuppertal brass in creamy, lovely form. Arguably, some might find the acoustic of Wuppertal's Große Saal too generous for this piece in the louder movements.
There is a rookie production error here, D&G's fault, not the booklet annotator. The notes state that the Burlesca (1906) is the "last composition on the present compact disc" where actually we hear it as the penultimate one. Then all becomes clear: they state also state thatches is the first recording of an unpublished work, which it should have been on first release. The piece has subsequently been recorded elsewhere (on that Chandos Noseda doc for example). Anyway, t is a glowering burlesque; I've heard it compared to Sibelius' Oceanides. Here, so you can hear it complete, is the Noseda performance. It is fascinating how the whirligig of a burlesca emerges from such dramatic material:
Finally, Respighi's orchestration of the Bach C-Minor Passacaglia, timely given Olivier Latry's disc of Bach covered just a couple of days ago. The Wuppertal orchestra is not absolutely up to the standard of the rest the works (the uppermost strings sound a touch tested), but that should not put you off.
This Respighi/Wuppertal combo is impressive, offering a most worthwhile 70 minutes of listening.
This wonderful disc is available via Amazon here.
