RESPIGHI, The London Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati – Ancient Airs and Dances

Title notes: Ancient Airs and Dances (Suites Nos. 1–3) The Birds Brazilian Impressions Fountains of Rome Pines of Rome There are few recorded collections available offering so complete a summation of Respighi’s diverse but always delightful art, from neo-Classical delicacy of the Ancient Airs and Dances to the Straussian grandeur of The Pines of Rome. Antal Doráti conjures spectacular orchestral playing from the Philharmonia Hungarica, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra in this invaluable reissue. (Newton Classics) “Respighi’s generous but sensitive application of modern colour, both harmonic and orchestral, benefits enormously from the sonorous and widespread front put up by this recording, which features the many excellent players of the Philharmonia Hungarica. This orchestra is largely composed of Hungarian refugee musicians domiciled at the time of the recording in Vienna, and it is most appropriate that they should be conducted by Doráti.” (Gramophone, 1960) "Disc one contains the best performances and the best sound in the set. However, it is also probably the least well known music. Respighi was primarily a composer of tone poems, little musical impressions, his work based largely on sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth-century forms and ideas. The first disc contains only one set of compositions, Respighi’s complete Ancient Airs and Dances, three suites that he wrote in 1917, 1923, and 1932, based on various Renaissance works for lute by Vincenzo Galilei, Simone Molinaro, and others. Dorati recorded the suites in 1958 with the Philharmonia Hungarica for the Mercury label in their “Living Presence” series, and when Philips remastered most of the titles in the old Mercury series for CD in the Nineties, they thought so highly of Dorati’s Ancient Airs and Dances, it was one of the first things they brought out. So, here’s the thing: If you don’t already own Dorati’s performance of the Ancient Airs and Dances either on the regular CD or the later SACD, this is a chance to get the stereo version in a two-disc set for essentially the price of one disc. The interpretations are elegant, stately, gracious, and infectious, moving perhaps more slowly than some rival renditions, and not done on period instruments, but with the utmost feeling and attention to historical detail. The music is wonderfully melodic, rhapsodic even. Almost equally as important, the sound is smooth and warm yet entirely natural and realistic. In comparing this first disc to my older copy of the work on a reissued Philips/Mercury CD, I found no difference between them. In other words, you’re getting the best-possible mastering of the product." (John J. Puccio - Classical Candor, April 2011)

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