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Respighi: Transcriptions of Bach & Rachmaninoff / Neschling, Liège Royal Philharmonic
BIS

Respighi: Transcriptions of Bach & Rachmaninoff / Neschling, Liège Royal Philharmonic

$21.99

Details

Composer
BACH RACHMANINOFF RESPIGHI
Artist
Neschling
Format
SACD
Label
BIS
Released
Feb 05, 2021
Catalog #
BIS-2350
UPC
7318599923505

About

The success of Ottorino Respighi’s ‘Roman Trilogy’ brought the composer international fame as an outstanding orchestrator. One side effect of this are the orchestral transcriptions gathered on this album: all made in 1929-30 and commissioned by eminent conductors such as Arturo Toscanini and Serge Koussevitzky for their American orchestras.

Respighi’s wide-ranging musical tastes included an interest in early music which probably contributed to him taking on the task of transcribing organ works by Bach – or creating ‘orchestral interpretations’, as he himself called the results. Among the Bach works are the celebrated Passacaglia in C minor – which Stokowski had orchestrated just a few years earlier – as well as the Prelude and Fugue in D major. Both are given the full treatment by Respighi, with orchestral forces including strings, triple woodwind, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani and piano four hands for the Prelude and Fugue. The score for the Passacaglia asks for even greater forces (including an organ); Respighi compared Bach’s original to ‘a cathedral built exclusively of sound’ – a description equally valid for his own arrangement. The Passacaglia was a success for Toscanini in New York, possibly influencing Koussevitsky in Boston to place a commission of his own. For him and the Boston Symphony Orchestra Respighi transcribed five of Rachmaninov’s etudes-Tableaux for solo piano. Although these are programmatic pieces, their subject matter had not been disclosed in the editions for piano, but the Russian composer revealed his inspiration to Respighi in order to help him ‘find the appropriate colors’.

With the present album, l’Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and John Neschling bring us the fifth installment 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).

REVIEW:

The alliance of John Neschling and BIS’s engineers has displayed Respighi’s genius for orchestration in all their previous albums together. This latest offering is no exception. I listened to the stereo layer of the SACD and was well impressed with the results. The sound has depth, body and presence and the engineers have conveyed an abundance of detail in a pleasingly natural way. The recorded sound shows the fine, alert playing of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royale de Liège to optimum advantage. The booklet essay by Jean-Pascal Vachon is very useful.

If anyone doubts Respighi’s flair and skill as an orchestrator, this SACD should still those doubts. It’s an entertaining disc in the best sense of the word and it’s a worthy addition to John Neschling’s Respighi series.

– MusicWeb International

Tracklist 12 tracks

  1. 1 Prelude 04:37
    Track
    1
    Title
    Prelude
    Duration
    04:37
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  2. 2 Fugue 05:25
    Track
    2
    Title
    Fugue
    Duration
    05:25
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  3. 3 Passacaglia 08:42
    Track
    3
    Title
    Passacaglia
    Duration
    08:42
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  4. 4 Fugue 06:31
    Track
    4
    Title
    Fugue
    Duration
    06:31
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  5. 5 No. 1. Lento assai (after J.S. Bach's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659) 03:59
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 1. Lento assai (after J.S. Bach's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659)
    Duration
    03:59
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  6. 6 No. 2. Andante con moto e scherzando (after J.S. Bach's Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV 648) 01:00
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 2. Andante con moto e scherzando (after J.S. Bach's Meine Seele erhebt den Herren, BWV 648)
    Duration
    01:00
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  7. 7 No. 3. Andante (after J.S. Bach's Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645) 05:14
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 3. Andante (after J.S. Bach's Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645)
    Duration
    05:14
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  8. 8 No. 1. The Sea and Seagulls (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 2) 07:12
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 1. The Sea and Seagulls (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 2)
    Duration
    07:12
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  9. 9 No. 2. Fair Scene (after Rachmaninov's Op. 33, No. 4) 01:58
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 2. Fair Scene (after Rachmaninov's Op. 33, No. 4)
    Duration
    01:58
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  10. 10 No. 3. Funeral March (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 7) 06:05
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 3. Funeral March (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 7)
    Duration
    06:05
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  11. 11 No. 4. Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 6) 03:07
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 4. Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 6)
    Duration
    03:07
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling
  12. 12 No. 5. Oriental March (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 9) 03:33
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 5. Oriental March (after Rachmaninov's Op. 39, No. 9)
    Duration
    03:33
    Composer
    Ottorino Respighi
    Ensemble
    Orchestre philharmonique royal de Liège
    Conductor
    John Neschling