[.ca] Pines Of Rome/Fountains Of Rom

Wow.:
I never thought I'd hear a brass sound equal to that of the Chicago Symphony, but Charles Dutoit and the OSM do it right here. The OSM plays the Pines of Rome like I've never heard it before. As fantastic as the entire performance is, the final Pines of the Appian Way seems to dwarf the first three movements. One can visualize the slow, steady march of the Roman legions, coming closer, closer, and closer still. The OSM possesses and demonstrates the superb control required to give a convincing performance of this piece. They play the written "F"'s and still retain the purity and clarity of their sound. The last two or so minutes of it still send chills up my spine. I recommend this album highly to anybody and everybody.

Truly a Monumental Respighi Recording:
As others have expounded, this is exquisite performance and recording. Dutoit and the Orchestra Symphony of Montreal deliver Pines of Rome with sensitive, passionate dynamics which are incredibly captured by this recording. The instrument groups are crystal clear and pristine, yet the subtle movements deliver concert hall chills while listening. This is of the top notch.

Pini di Roma - An Incredible Technical and Artistic Triumph:
People will not always have the same impressions of music performances because we have different preferences, experiences and musical backgrounds which shape those impressions. I happen to be a musician with performance, teaching and conducting experience, but I have never attempted to write criticism. Music can be such a subjective thing, and many others' opinions are just as or more valid than mine. However, I cannot imagine there can be any disagreement that Decca, Dutoit and the MSO have the finest performance of "The Pines of the Appian Way" ever recorded. This CD is a virtual test disc for audio equipment, and the performance is a model for all musicians to emulate. As everyone knows, the Appian Way begins quietly and builds progressively to the finish, somewhat in the fashion of Ravel's "Bolero," but much more so. Recording engineers are challenged in trying to capture such pieces as these, where the dynamic range is extreme and a lot of exotic percussion is scored. Orchestras have trouble playing as loudly as Respighi demands without losing balance, control and clarity. In this recording, nothing registers except success. Even when the ensemble is pegging the decibel meter needles, the orchestra's sound is still transparent. You can hear horns, clarinets, violins. You never lose the lines each instrument group plays, even when 30 or so brass and percussion players are doing their best to blow out the back wall of the hall. Early on you will actually feel the bass drum (if your reproduction equipment, especially your loudspeakers, is good enough) as much as hear it. There is never any distortion, and there is always perfect definition of the sound. It is a unique and remarkable recording. Those engineers should have won some sort of award for this one. The accomplishment of the engineers would gone for nothing, though, if the performance they captured had not been good. This performance of the Appian Way is beyond good; it is amazing. Maestro Dutoit's tempo is not stodgy. He does not let melodic elements get buried by the weight of the accompaniment. This is no easy feat, because the accompaniment gets plenty ponderous. When instruments enter, Dutoit measures each entrance so that the players do not immediately dominate the ensemble. As the instrumental texture and dynamic grows, the balance remains even and disciplined. When the orchestra reaches and passes the point of double forte, Dutoit and the ensemble cross the threshold into the extraordinary. The playing is not just loud and brilliant, becoming more loud and brilliant until the last cymbal crash; none of the musical elements are never lost. Each ascending phrase in the winds builds subtly in each eight-bar incrument. The piece does not become static. Yes, the sound gets huge, like it's supposed to, but Dutoit never allows the sound to collapse into brassiness or shrillness. When this piece really cranks up, the brass are just about blowing the seat of their pants through their horns, the srings come dangerously close to breaking their instruments in half with the force of their bows, and the percussionists are risking putting their mallets right through the heads of the drums and whatever else they are beating (and the woodwinds are wishing they started on some other instrument). That they all retain such musicality while doing this is evidence of very fine talent on the part of the players (and maturity on their parts, as well, the woodwinds will say). The sound is big, but not forced. I do not mean to slight any of the other works on this disc. Everything is played marvelously well and with precision. But this Appian Way is simply the best performance recorded to date of an intrinsicly difficult piece to perform, conduct or record, and should not be missed.

Exquisite Performances Of Respighi's Music:
Dutoit's exciting interpretations with the OSM of Respighi's scores certainly rank as among the most exciting ever recorded; they certain compare well with Maazel's splendid readings with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. They are certainly far more gripping than Karajan's acclaimed recording with the Berlin Philharmonic; the latter lacks the exuberance of Dutoit and the OSM, but is its equal with regard to the OSM's polished playing. Dutoit's brisk tempi and majestic conducting are matched by the OSM's warm, technically perfect performances, most notably in its wind and string sections (The brass is as fine as these sections in the tone poem "Pines Of Rome", especially the Appian Way measures.). Decca engineers have scored another artistic triumph with Dutoit and the OSM, yielding an extremely well-balanced recording. Undoubtedly this is one of the essential recordings of Respighi's most popular music.

Enjoyable Works!:
Not much more to say that others haven't said already. These are very fine works, excellent sound and music.

• PINI DI ROMA: Pines of Rome: I. I Pini di Villa Borghese
• PINI DI ROMA: II. Pini presso una catacomba
• PINI DI ROMA: III. I Pini del Gianicolo
• PINI DI ROMA: IV. I Pini della Via Appia
• Feste romane: Feste Romane: I. Circenses
• Feste romane: II. Il Giubileo
• Feste romane: III. L'Ottobrata
• Feste romane: IV. La Befana
• FONTANE DI ROMA: Foutains of Rome: I. La fontana di Valle Giulia all'alba
• FONTANE DI ROMA: II. La fontana del Tritone al mattino
• FONTANE DI ROMA: III. La fontana di Trevi al meriggio
• FONTANE DI ROMA: IV. La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto