A great piece and perhaps the linchpin of one of the great triptychs in CM. Heard it in concert several times; even a local orchestra makes it sound fantastic. Started on recordings with Stokowski, moved onto more current stuff, today listen to Kempe's recording on an audiophile disk with Massimo Freccia's others. Doesn't much matter who does it.

 

Marvelous piece. I have Dutoit on Decca, Batiz on Naxos and de Waart on Philips, all good to my ears.

 

Be sure to listen to the other cycles in the triptych, Fountains of Rome and Roman Festivals, if you don't know them already.

 

TCers don't like Italian.

 

I was first exposed to Karajan's BPO recording (there is an older Philharmonia recording by Karajan on EMI). Generally heavy on the poetry. Splendid. Recently I listened to what has to be the polar opposite, Dorati, Minneapolis on Mercury. The performance and engineering come together to produce the ultimate in clarity, where you can hear every voice. This is particularly applicable to the finale, La Via Appia, where brass calls of the imagined Roman Legions heard. It's for me rare to hear a recording of the piece that doesn't please. I also think people should hear the Previtali/Santa Cecelia recording, late 50's Decca.

 

One of my favorite 20th works! Very popular and for good reason. Done well it can have a stunning impact on the listener and is a sure-fire way for orchestras to get a standing ovation. Other than the opening section, it's not all that hard to play which makes it accessible even to less than first-rate orchestras. The only issue is there must be a good organ and getting the extra brass players can be a problem. Recordings abound and three of the best are already mentioned: Dutoit, Reiner, Batiz. The stumbling block for many conductors is the Pines of the Appian Way. The tempo has to be just right and the constantly building crescendo carefully judged, and so many otherwise fine recordings just somehow fall a bit flat on this. Surprisingly Ormandy misses the mark. Toscanini really nailed it perfectly; it's just too bad the sound is so dated. When I need a Respighi fix I'll put on the Dutoit and wallow in its decadence.

 

Toscanini’s is by far and away my favourite. The Pristine remaster is great and the original recording quality is very good anyway. I actually hear details in this mono recording I don’t always hear in state of the art stereo recordings.

 

My favorite recording is (and I'm sure many would agree with this) Fritz Reiner with the CSO. What are some other notable performances of this piece?

Reiner/CSO is my favorite, but Toscanini/NBC is really great, also. wouldn't want to be without either...

 

The Pines of Rome helped me get a Boy Scout merit badge. To get my Music badge, one of my assignments was to listen to a classical piece. My dad had a recording of Pines of Rome, so we listened to it together. That's a nice memory.

Personally, I have Reiner, Dutoit, Batiz, Neschling, and La Veccia, and Ozawa. I guess sometime I need to listen to them back to back to pick out a favorite.

 

1. I agree that Fritz Reiner's CSO recording is one of the very best.

2. My first experience with Respighi's The Pines of Rome was when I attended a live concert given by The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1984, with Riccardo Muti conducting. Afterwards, I bought their EMI recording, & still enjoy it from time to time. The playing of The Philadelphia Orchestra is worth the price of admission, as they were well suited to Respighi's music in those days. Indeed Muti's recording used to get spoken about as being one of the best in the catalogue, but surprisingly no one has mentioned it here. Perhaps people now think that it has been surpassed by other digital era recordings? such as Charles Dutoit's recording in Montreal?

Personally, I prefer Muti to Dutoit here; although Dutoit and his virtuosic Montreal orchestra do allow the listener to hear the whole score in greater detail than Muti does, which counts for something. While Muti's performance is a more visceral experience,

--The Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti

3. In recent years, I bought conductor John Neschling's survey of Respighi's orchestral works with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liege and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra on the BIS label, which I've enjoyed very much as well, and the BIS recording quality is first class! Yes, The Pines of Rome isn't the only Resphigi work that is worth getting to know--for starters, I agree that The Fountains of Rome is worth hearing too, along with other works. This set makes a good introduction; even though I wouldn't claim that all the performances are necessarily top picks, but they are very good:

4. Another audiophile recording is Eiji Oue's recording on Prof. Johnson's Reference Recordings label with the Minnesota Orchestra, which I expect has the best sound quality you're going to find, and that does count for something when we're speaking about the orchestral splendor of Resphigi's music. & yes, you get to hear every little detail in this exceptional recording,

5. There's also an excellent analogue recording by Lorin Maazel and The Cleveland Orchestra from 1976, which is available on Decca Legends, & comes coupled with Resphigi's Feste romane,

Respighi: Pines of Rome: The Pines of Villa Borghese (I pini di Villa Borghese)

Finally, here are several more Respighi recordings that are recommendable; that is, if you don't wish to buy Neschling's BIS survey, or even if you do--depending on how avidly you wish to add Respighi recordings to your collection:

6. Respighi: Church Windows, P. 150; Brazilian Impressions, P. 153 & Roman Festivals, P. 157 - Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra · Jesús López Cobos, Telarc digital (which is part of another good & well recorded Resphigi orchestral series):

Respighi: Church Windows, P. 150: I. The Flight into Egypt

7. Respighi: Ancient Airs And Dances, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner

Respighi: I. Il Conte Orlando: Balletto (Simone Molinaro)

Or,

8. Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances & Trittico botticelliano - Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Jesús López Cobos, Telarc digital

Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 1, P 109: I. Balletto detto "Il Conte Orlando"

Hope that helps.

 

Some of the most lush, beautiful, evocative orchestration ever! Respighi is greatly underappreciated.

 

Some of the most lush, beautiful, evocative orchestration ever! Respighi is greatly underappreciated.

Why is that? We know audiences love big orchestral blockbusters, but when it comes to Respighi all we get is the Roman Trilogy, the Birds, sometimes the Ancient Airs and Dances and that's about it. Church Windows is terrific and should be much better known. I'd love to hear (or play!) the Sinfonia Drammatica. The guy wrote a dozen operas; I've only heard one: La fiamma. So much music...so little time.

 

I've loved it ever since I first heard it in Fantasia 2000 as a kid. Dutoit is my personal favorite recording.

But this year I finally saw it performed live at the San Francisco Symphony, and it blew me away in a way that only a live performance can. This is a work that absolutely deserves to be heard live.

 

Great-sounding work, but fails to make much of an impact on me.

 

Reiner and Neschling are excellent. The Reiner still sounds fresh as a daisy. I need to play it later. It's been a while....

 

Has that unique Respighi coloration that's both medieval and 20th century at the same time. I like it very much.