New Respighi CDs - Chailly versus Wilson

[adriano]

RICCARDO CHAILLY's Respighi CD (Decca) is rather disappointing. The interpretations are nice, not sanguine, without tension – and there is no real love for detail and no real eye for agogics. Slower sections of "Pini" and "Fontane" are a bore.
All pieces sound as if they would have been just played through once or twice before the recordings - it's good that we have to do with a good orchestra. Instrumental soli are not unsufficiently flattered; there is an overall lack of rubato sense. The playing is good, but the engineering muddy and uninteresting in loud tutti piaces; the final March of "Pini di Roma" sounds like a mediocre recording of the 1960s.
The 3rd Suite of "Antiche Danze ed Arie" figures among the less interesting interpretations I've hear so far – I know over 30 of them.
Unfortunately, Maestro Chailly did not include "Feste Romane". Instead he chose the mentioned suite of "Antiche Arie e Danze" for string orchestra and some just lovely less-known pieces. Raffaele Mellace justifies this programme in his liner notes: "The recording sets out to present the full (!) complexity of the composer's image as well as the richness of his oeuvre by showcasing two "tryptics" of his works: three little-known pieces from among his juvenilia, and three compositions from his maturity including two from his famous Roman trilogy..." (my exclamation mark in brackets).
The booklet reproduces the cover of Elsa Respighi's biography of Ottorino an an inside dedication by Elsa to Maestro Chailly's father. This because "... [orchestral] writing of such prodigious skill has won the admiration of the greatest conductors, from Arturo Toscanini (...) right down to Riccardo Chailly, for whom the vistits of his father's house in Rome by Respighi's widow Elsa in the early 1960s make this music part of his own personal history".
Frankly, between Toscanini's and Chailly's interpretations there are worlds in between...

JOHN WILSON's very welcome and highly recommendable CHANDOS (Super Audio) recording of Respighi's complete "Roman" tryptic reveals, besides stunning sonics, very convincing and fully-tempered interpretations. This is the way those Respighi's showpieces should be done. And here one can even feel Toscanini's heritage. The Sinfonia of London delivers super playing and I also find the booklet notes very useful and of much higher standard than the ones for the Decca CD.

All this is but my personal opinion! As far as Chailly's CD is concerned I could go much more into detail, but this should be done by professional critics.

[dmitterd]

Though I haven't heard the Chailly recording, I have to agree with your comments on the Wilson/Sinfonia of London recording. The captured sound is first-rate and the playing is inspired and full-bodied, with a huge amount of energy. Highly recommended!

cheers,
Daniel

[Alan Howe]

The question for me, though, is: do I need it?

[adriano]

I agree with you, Alan :-)
There are so many "Tryptich" recordings... For audio freaks and younger music lovers this would be a reason for buying this Chandos CD. I buy new recordings for my Respighi archive. Which means that I won't surely re-listen to the Chailly one; the Wilson perhaps a second time, following with the scores.
I consider older recordings of the complete or incomplete "Roman Trilogy" by Toscanini, Reiner, Karajan, Maazel, Pedrotti, Ozawa & Co. still unsurpassable interpretations. And I have a lot of shellacks (which I have digitised in the meantime) revealing more exciting interpretations...
I hear that John Neschling's Respighi BIS recordings are intended to become a "complete works for orchestra" project. I hope it will not end up as incomplete like the earlier one on Brilliant Classics by Francesco La Vecchia - which wasn't too exciting anyway. That box is still offered as "The Complete Orchestral Music" - which is not at all true, since at least 15 works are missing.

[jasthill]

All this is but my personal opinion! As far as Chailly's CD is concerned I could go much more into detail, but this should be done by professional critics.

You sell yourself short sir - I recall your previous Respighi CD's on Marco Polo - some never duplicated and some predating other versions (i.e. La Pentola) - so I would consider your opinion more trustworthy than an "professional" critic's fawning adulation.  And yes, Pedrotti's Festivals is remarkable. Salute!

[adriano]

Thanks jasthill - and salute (in Italian) to you too :-)

[britishcomposer]

For the German speaking among you here is a comparative review of Chailly vs Wilson by Christoph Vratz for Deutschlandfunk Kultur:
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/ottorino-respighi-italien-reise-fuer-die-ohren.727.de.html?dram:article_id=484174
He argues along the same lines as Adriano.