Antal Dorati & Alceo Galliera - Respighi: Orchestral Music (1955) [2009]

Doráti and Galliera magnificent in Respighi

All the bombast and spectacular orchestration brilliantly conveyed

All three of these excellent recordings manages to capture the - at times over-the-top - exuberance of Respighi's orchestral writing well, and though the Doráti does appear to suffer a slight top end roll-off towards the end of each side this happens slowly enough and is mild enough that one is rarely aware of it when listening through.

What certainly cannot be missed here is perhaps the most dramatic hit on the tam-tam (or gong) I've ever heard on record. From the crash at the end of the second movement of Church Windows until the decay finally falls under the opening bars of the third movement there's an incredible 18 seconds of reverberant sound.

Robert Benson, writing in Classical CD Review in 2002, investigated this single note in Respighi's score. He found Ormandy's stereo Philadelphia to run to "a paltry 7 seconds" whilst on Chandos, Geoffrey Simon's 1984 recording manages a "far better recorded" 12 second. But ultimately, "no other recording approaches the Doráti spectacular."

You can hear for yourself this mighty crash in our sample here, though you'll have to listen to the full piece to get to grips with the deep 32 foot organ stops, and what Gramophone's reviewer somewhat sniffily refers to as "pretty well everything in the kitchen but the sink"!

Andrew Rose


Tracks:

RESPIGHI Feste romane (Roman Festivals)
RESPIGHI Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows)
RESPIGHI Fontane di Roma (Roman Fountains)

Personnel:

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Antal Doráti
The Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Alceo Galliera