These rarely heard works offer listeners an introduction to very different aspects of Respighi's orchestral oeuvre. The mighty "Metamorphoseon", a breathtaking symphonic interpretation of Bach's C minor Passacaglia, a suite on themes by Rossini as well as the world premiere recording of an early burlesque are performed by the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Hanson.

After recordings of Beethoven’s complete symphonies, two Ravel albums, one Rautavaara album, and the award-winning album ‘Americascapes’, Robert Treviño now turns his focus on the symphonic poems by Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936).Together with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra Robert Treviño presents the composer’s famous Roman Trilogy, an exciting orchestral masterpiece culminating in the triumphant Pines of Rome.

With the present album, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege and John Neschling bring us the sixth and last instalment in a series that has been called 'the finest-ever survey of the composer's orchestral output undertaken by a single conductor' (BBC Music Magazine). The immense popularity of the Roman Trilogy has had the effect of obscuring many parts of Respighi's oeuvre, including arrangements of pieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Hans-Ola Ericsson was born in Stockholm in 1958. He is a renowned organist with hundreds of recitals and concerts behind him, as well as an esteemed pedagogue at several institutions and a bold composer of contemporary music.
Known for his renditions of music as diverse as Olivier Messiaen and John Cage, his interpretory range stretches between György Ligety and the ubiquitous Johann Sebastian Bach as well as many more. Among the crown jewels of the repertoire is the collected works of Messiaen and a recently finished series of Bach in chamber and organ settings.

Martinu's alternately bustlingly neo-classical and genially lyrical Sinfonietta La jolla (named after the Californian town whose Music Society commissioned it) is otherwise absent from the CD catalogue at present, and this lively account is welcome. It is one of his most relaxed works, approaching light music at times, especially in the circus-like exuberance of the finale, but the lyrical element continually returns and before the coda a string chorale is heard that more than hints at the luminous simplicity of the finest late Martinu. Valta's is a very good performance, marred only by the rather forward placing and somewhat atmosphere-less sound of the concertante piano and by a certain lack of warmth (La Jolla is distanced from the Pacific by a degree or two of latitude) in the violins.

Conservative in his musical style as in his politics – rightly or wrongly the whiff of Fascism hangs over his name – Ottorino Respighi is remembered today almost exclusively for the blazing triptych of Roman tone poems. He also, however, produced a corpus of chamber, keyboard and vocal works, not to mention operas and orchestral pieces, many of which are crying out to be rediscovered. Slowly they are finding their way into concert programmes and on to record, and this disc from the Ambache should bring three of them a well-deserved wider currency. The superb Piano Quintet in F minor occasionally recalls Franck (who wrote one in the same key), but its piano-dominated lyrical effusion is wholly individual. The substantial ten-minute first movement is inadequately balanced by a two-minute Andantino and four-minute scherzo-like Vivacissimo, however, and it is possible that a finale has somehow become detached.

Night falls in diverse ways in Magdalena Hoffmann's debut album. Nightscapes sees the German harpist dive deep into the intimate, mysterious, magical world of night music, as well as exploring the theme of dance. Its track list spans everything from the austere beauty of Britten's Suite for Harp Op. 83 to the folk-like colors of Tournier's La danse du moujik. The recording comprises both original pieces for solo harp and compositions for piano, skillfully transcribed by Hoffmann herself.

This new CD from BR-KLASSIK features the ballet music 'Carmen Suite', based on the famous melodies from George Bizet's eponymous opera and masterfully arranged and adapted by the composer Rodion Shchedrin in 1968, and Ottorino Respighi's well-known symphonic poem 'Pini di Roma' (The Pines of Rome), written in 1924. The name of the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin is primarily associated in the West with his 'Carmen Suite', which has been highly popular ever since its first performance. The thirteen movements of this ballet music are based on Bizet's opera Carmen, and carefully adapted to the musical language of the present day.

La campana sommersa was one of Respighi’s most successful works. It is an interesting piece not the least because of its philosophical ambiguities. On the surface it appears to be a story of the conflict of orthodox Christian faith with older, more pagan beliefs as represented by the fairy folk: Ondine, the water sprite, the Faun (the spirit of the woods) and the heroine, Rautendelein, the elf-girl. Respighi confessed to having fallen in love with the character of Rautendelein. His wife, Elsa, observed that, in this opera, he revealed his predilection for the world of nature and fable. Respighi had a complex personality, torn between ascetic ideals, often reaching the domain of pantheistic mysticism and the sensual realities of the world.

The Waldbühne in Berlin, one of the most appealing outdoor amphitheatres on the European continent, is the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer concerts. With audiences of more than 20,000, these are some of the most popular classical music concerts in the world. Riccardo Chailly is famous for having one of the broadest and most eclectic repertoires. Here, under his baton, the orchestra presents perennial favourites by Shostakovich, Rota and Respighi.

Borrowing from the title of Proust’s great novel, the latest recital by Imogen Cooper features a collection of pieces that she learnt as a teenager in Paris, or in her twenties working with Alfred Brendel in Vienna, but none of which she has performed on the concert platform, or really played at all in the intervening years. Cooper studied in Paris from 1961 to 1967 with Jacques Février (who had known Ravel well), Yvonne Lefébure (who had known Alfred Cortot), and Germaine Mounier. She started to wonder about the messages from her teachers she would find on her scores, and about the nature of memory. She was also interested to see if the repertoire she has acquired since she learnt these pieces would change her view, or shed new light on them. This highly personal recital is an exemplar of Imogen Cooper’s outstanding pianism and musicianship.

Anticipating the 50th anniversary of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in 2022, we present their complete recordings on DG. The intriguing sound culture of Orpheus, especially of the string section, is often explained as a result of the cooperative mindset of the orchestra and its artistic process of rehearsing.

By now, fans of this mezzo probably have realized that she could sing the telephone directory and make it sound both beautiful and meaningful. This CD is made up of music by Respighi, Ravel, Britten, Schulhoff and Shostakovich: in other words, songs in five languages from five countries. Unlike most song recital CDs, variety is also supplied by the accompaniments. The Ravel songs are backed up by flute, cello and piano, while the Schulhoff selections feature violin and piano, the Shostakovich and Britten are for piano alone, and the Respighi includes a string quartet. The whole CD is fascinating, but the lengthy Respighi cantata "Il tramonto" ("The Sunset," to a poem by Shelly) is a sensational centerpiece: just lovely, with hints of Straussian and Wagnerian harmonies.