Repertoire: Respighi's Delectable Ancient Airs and Dances
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- If ever there was music that will help you get through those sleepless nights, Respighi's three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances has got to be it. These delightful arrangements of early music, mostly for lute, are cloaked in modern scoring, with a harpsichord tossed in here and there--just so we know where we are. You owe it to yourself to grab a recording, and keep it handy for a refreshing music break whenever the mood strikes you.
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Wonderful Video with as usual very good Information!!! Thank you!
I grew up on the Dorati recordings and particularly the 2nd suite is very near and dear to my heart. It’s a great piece to warm the soul!
Back in the 70s and 80s, Boston's morning classical DJ Robert J Lurtsema would always start his program around 7 am with a few minutes of bird sounds seguing into the Bergamasque from the Ancient Airs and Dances. A nice way to start the day!
The magic of Respighi at it's finest 👍
I've discovered the piece thanks to Saccani and it is indeed a very fine performance. But the Ozawa... oh my God, the Ozawa: pure beauty.
well first thing in the morning i wake up and find this wonderful video in my feed - makes my day - i remember buying the Ancient Airs & Dances on cassette back in the 70s in one of those ancient places known as a record store
Great video as always, Dave. Have the Antal Dorati and The Philharmonia Hungarica on Mercury in my collection. A very good recording from 1958. Particularly like the Rustic Dance from the second suite, such a happy tune.
Gorgeous!
Very nice, and thank you. The Dorati is the recording I have.
I got to know the Dorati performances very early on but I did enjoy the excerpts from the Naxos recording you played. Thank you for that, David.
I have the ozowa disk on my dg bso box but hadnt got to it I listined with my gf and she loved it got me lucky thank you mr hurwitz
Delightfull talk! And thank you for the Hyperion tip... that's gonna make interesting comparison!
If ever you wake up "on the wrong side" and are having a bad day, put on the Bergamasca (4th Mvt) from Suite #2 (which David plays at 9:10) and CRANK IT UP. Guaranteed to improve your mood immediately!
I agree,the OZAWA recording is tops..the Balances are phenomenal; every note from the harp, celeste, harpsichord (4-hands!) woodwind choir, etc is there...and your tribute to Ozawa/BSO giving this music extra legitimacy is greatly appreciated. BTW, Ozawa even included Suite #2 in his big syndicated PBS televised season with the BSO in 1978 (I think); whatever happened to THAT series, I wonder? I remember seeing Ozawa do Crumb's "Echoes of Time and the River" ....complete with the orchestral "processionals"... right on my own TV!.
Yes, Respighi's Botticelli Tryptich is a close cousin to these Suites (and the "Magi" 2nd movement also includes the delightful "Carol of the Bagpipers ("Zampognari") that Respighi treated with loving care), as is the 1930 "Laud to the Nativity", my candidate for the most purely beautiful piece of music ever composed (especially in the 1961 Alfred Wallenstein/Roger Wagner recording). THANKS for the tip about the Odette recording, which I must get. LR
Great work Respighi also made a wonderful orchestration of Rachmaninoff's Études-Tableaux, Op. 39 (of which Rachmaninoff apparently approved). Equally fascinating is Bruno Maderna's arrangement of music by Frescobaldi, Gabrieli and other early composers - the Tre Pezzi for chamber orchestra after Frescobaldi is extraordinary (the Kyrie movement gorgeous).
The Ancient Airs and Dances were among the first classical pieces I listened to in university (a LONG time ago) and I was completely captured by all of the qualities you describe. I too imprinted on the Dorati version. As noted below by 'scagooch', the Bergamasca of the Dorati / Philharmonia Hungarica version was something of an institution here in Canada. Every weekday, from 1960 to 1996, on the FM station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (our national broadcaster), the opening bars of the Bergamasca introduced the two-hour long radio program "Off the Record" hosted by Bob Kerr, an affable and occasionally irascible (he decried poor liner notes!) classical music aficionado. Being public radio, there were no commercials, so he could take his two hours and introduce Canadians (and Americans close to the border) to massive works without pause, such as the Mahler symphonies, etc. Some years ago I also got the lute originals by O'Dette - lots of fun to hear, and you do get an appreciation for Respighi's orchestrating magic. Thanks for the talk!
Great comment! I especially looked forward to his 'organ Thursdays' and light music Fridays.
@@mrnicelynicely1 Yes I remember them as well!
Ah, the halcyon days when the People's Broadcasting Corporation (sic^^) played "Western art music" o.k.a. classical music. Of course, despite the billion+ dollars extra per year now with which the organization has been bribed by the current reprehensible Justin ben Castro government, all that money is funelled out of decent music and used to alternatively brainwash or bamboozle Canadians. What a terrible shame...
Great video ! And timely. I've been listening to more Respighi, and southern European baroque music as well (scarlatti). A wonderful music for spring, and a vacation from the weighty germanic worlds of Bruckner, Mahler, and Beethoven. I've actually never heard a Respighi work that wasn't entertaining. Its also more popular with my wife, then the heavy Germans.
Paul G.
thank you. I recently discovered your posts and enjoyed many of them and agree with you these subjective choices add to ones consideration and enrich one's own views. In this case, was very happy as I think the Ancient Airs and Dances are wonderful masterpieces that should be programmed and recorded more often, Ozawa's version in my favorite and in the early 1990s I stumbled on to Paul O'Dette's revelatory recording of the source material.
Thank you David for Respighi this time!!!
I LOVE the Paul O'Dette recording of the original versions. Just ordered the Ozawa. I have the Christopher Lyndon-Gee Australian Chamber orchestra version and Neville Marriner with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra - which really is my favorite.
I first heard it by Antal Dorati and still like that recording the best. But will listen to some of the ones recommended here.
Such a pity the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra never recorded the second suite. That would have been a reference recording for the ages. I almost threw my Doráti set out of the window when I heard how vibrant they made the same music sound.
I felt the same way - the Orpheus Suite 1 was amazing - broke my heart they didn't do suite 2.
So much here close to my own heart. I love that you mentioned O'Dette's old Hyperion recording. I love to play it side by side, movement by movement, with the Respighi. O'Dette is originally from my current hometown. I've met and conversed with him several times, and some personal friends completed graduate degrees with him.
One of the favored versions on my own shelves is the older Dorati Living Presence release. (Interesting that the newer release pictures a modern mandolin on the cover.)
Another of my favorite recordings is by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra on DG. I love how they give the opening theme of the closing passacaglia (originally a guitar piece by Roncalli) to few (maybe two?) violins. That sudden clarity of line is just surprising and cool.
I was actually one of the proofreaders of the most recent modern edition of Chilesotti's "Da Un Codice del Cinquecento" (Editions Orphée 2002) from which Respighi drew several of his lute pieces.
Of course, the second Botticelli picture also quotes that famous 18th-c. Italian Christmas pastorale that also makes appearances in baroque-era Christmas concertos and sonatas (by Tartini, Scarlatti, etc.).
Finally and totally peripheral, but Respighi is one of a handful of "major" composers to set mandolin in a "major" orchestral work. Personally, I don't have much opportunity to play with large, modern symphony orchestras, but I have so played Roman Festivals!
I’ve corresponded with Paul O’Dette through e-mail before, and he seemed like a really great guy. It must have a real privilege to be able to speak to him in person, I’m sure he has plenty of interesting stories to tell!
My most substantial conversation with Prof. O'Dette was about a mutual (but controversial) friend. My second most, about his choice of plectrum and instruments for the Vivaldi mandolin and lute works. A friend who finished his DMA with O'Dette tells me that Paul is a knowledgeable connoisseur of wine and fine beers. I'm frankly now eager for more conversation.
By the way, O'Dette is also now a Grammy winning opera conductor. If early opera is your thang, check out his recording of Charpentier's La Descent d'Orphee aux Enfers.
The lovely Christmas pastorale in Respighi's Botticelli 2nd Mvt is the traditional "Canzona di Zampognari" (Carol of the Bagpipers), which begins in the Bassoon in Gb Major, and moves to Db major (w/oboe) and strings; incredible gorgeous (there's a live You-Tube performance with horrible mono sound that is still beautifully performed (Chicago Civic Orchestra).
Indeed, the same, set to the text "Quanno nascette Ninno" by de 'Liguori and an arrangement of which I actually recorded to a Christmas album with a local choir.
On the CBC Bob kerr's off the record started with a snippet. Took me twenty years to find out who it was. I have the dorati recording.
the wonderful Bob Kerr - never forgotten
How delightful. My father, who had great good taste in music, loved it. And I took great pleasure discovering the composers of the original pieces from those early Angel vinyls by Virtuosi di Roma that are impossible to find these days.
Our version of the Ancient Airs was the Dorati. Such a pleasure.
I was lucky enough to find out about Respigi A+D. Couple of good recordings. Always an enjoyable listen.
Great CD (first one he held up). Wonderful music.
A review of the Respighi transcriptions of JS Bach is now very much in order. Hint, hint, Mr. D.H.^^ // Respighi's edition of the Monteverdi "Orfeo" would also be intriguing to investigate...
Thank you for this. Have always loved the Ancient Airs and Dances since discovering the Dorati recording. Music in a similarly elegant vein, or so I think at least, came from the pen of Wolf-Ferrari. I wonder if you would consider giving a mention to the Idillio concertino for oboe and small orchestra, and maybe some of his other orchestral works. They have a gentle charm that I find irresistible.
Allow me to recommend the Bernstein 1950 version of Pulcinella, some of the most vibrant dance music you're ever likely to hear
I have the Ozawa, BSO recording. I would think it would be very hard to top.
Don't think. Listen.
Thanks for another great review! I imprinted on the Marriner/LACO. It was recorded for 4 channel Quadraphonic and have to wonder if the Quad version sounds better than the adequate but not great 2 channel mix down. I've never been a big fan of the Dorati but really enjoy the Ozawa/BSO. Great wind playing! I had high hopes for the recent Di Vittorio/ CO of NY on Naxos, but there is some kind of mistake (editing?) at 1:15 in the second movement of Suite No 2 on the Spotify streaming version that I heard.
Regarding Marriner, right you are. I had the domestic US/Angel SQ encoded lp. Beautiful, mid hall perspective with bloom, spaciousness, and depth.
The initial cd release on EMI/Angel c. 1987 was basically a straight transfer of the SQ submaster that Angel initially used to cut the lp. Used the original artwork more or less. No mention of SQ on the digital release but basically it was an SQ encoded cd. Still have it... a bit hissy but beautiful. The later EMI Classics remaster was on their Double Forte series. Probably from the 1st generation session tapes but with no back channel/SQ encode inclusion in the mix. (Thanks Abbey Road!) The results aren't pretty. The team there was allergic to using the multi channel mix on the EMI 1970s quad material for their stereo mixdown for digital issue. It drys out and alters the original balance and sound quality radically. They did the same for remastering Karajan's 1970s quad recorded material in the more recent, Warner/Karajan edition. They are good transfers but the original approved balance and sound qualities are adversely affected. Check out and look for the 1987 EMI/Angel Respighi/Marriner CD. I think you'll be delighted.
Tom Sudholt
Classic 107.3FM
St.Louis, Mo
@@MrTomsudholt Thanks so much for this detailed information!
@@jfddoc See! It pays sometimes to have not had a life in my young years! 😀👍
@jfddoc I just auditioned the troublesome track of that new
... Naxos CD (via Naxos Music Library) and found no trouble.
When I saw the headline of this review, I stand in the starting blocks to refer to the wonderful hyperion recording of the "originals" by Paul O`Dette. Of course it was unnecessary: You are damn extensively. As an extra bonbon You introduced my favourite, but not well known recording on cpo with Henry Raudales. One contradiction: You can ruin this elegant pieces very well: By greasyness, so Richard Hickox did on Chandos. An adaption of an adaption: A selection of 8 airs by Konstantin Sherbakov for piano solo on Naxos: Very worth hearing.
Very interesting and, as I only have Karajan doing some of this, I'll look around for your recommendations. It's an interesting question where "neoclassicism" originated. Stravinsky is rightly credited for doing it in a way that influenced the whole atmosphere of inter-war music, but this is a good example of someone else. Also Prokofiev in the first symphony, Richard Strauss in the original conception of Ariadne. Maybe even Tchaikovsky (Rococo variations, Queen of Spades) who had such a thing about Mozart - just as Stravinsky had such a thing about Tchaikovsky (and Mozart too of course). These musical tendencies and where they come from are presumably never that simple...
Even more, Richard Strauss in his first Couperin arrangements.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Ja, ja
I found the Lopez Cobos recording at a used-book store today. Beautiful performance, and Telarc's sound is wonderfully vivid.