Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
The Eternal City
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Auckland Town Hall
June 13
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Respighi’s Roman Trilogy takes the listener on a musical tour of Rome with three tone poems which celebrate the city’s fountains, pines and festivals. Along the way we encounter the architecture, landscape and history of the city with vibrant music which capture its moods, sounds and spectacles.
The three works were composed over a twelve-year period 1916 – 1928 and the APO presented the three works under the title of The Eternal City.
The programme opened with Fountains of Rome, the purpose of which the composer said was “to give expression to the sentiments and visions suggested . . . by four of Rome’s fountains, contemplated at the hour in which their character is most in harmony with the surrounding landscape, or in which their beauty appears most impressive to the observer.”
In this work we encounter some of the smaller fountains like the one by the Villa Medici as well as the extravagant Trevi Fountain.
The first part of the work, inspired by the Fountain of Valle Giulia, depicted a pastoral landscape and captured the early Romas dawn with the strings and woodwinds.
This was followed by a sudden loud blast of the brass and percussion above the shrill tones of the orchestra, introducing the Triton who raises a conch to his lips and we also hear the sounds of activity around the fountain.
Next, he depicts The Trevi Fountain at midday, the theme, passing from the woodwind to the brass instruments, with the trumpets depicting the dramatic figure of Neptune, seahorses and another Triton blowing a conch shell, the sounds of which were depicted by the orchestra’s horns.
The fourth section depicting the Villa Medici Fountain at sunset captures the fading grandeur of the city with is a nostalgic theme and we hear the tolling of bells above the whispering strings of birds twittering.
The work which features much brass and percussion shows us a panoramic Rome filled with a sensory overload of excitement and activity.
The music captures the flow of water from a trickle to torrents with instruments providing flecks of light intermingled in the sprays of water.
The second work, The Pines of Rome had an animated opening with a depiction of the trees around the Villa Borghese mixed with the sounds of the city. The depiction then moves to the outer areas of the city with a melancholic mood in the area of the catacombs highlighted with hints of the Latin mass .
The pines on the Janiculum Hill were introduced with timpani and gongs, giving a spacious vision, the trees picked out by the piano and clarinet. As though taking its cue from the clarinet comes a recording of a nightingale seeping into the hall only to disappear with the coming of night and the brooding sounds of the ghosts of centurions returning on the Appian Way. These sounds initially seem distant but then as the orchestra’s voice increases a sextet of brass instrument up by the organ let loose some triumphal sounds conveying the drama of Roman pomp and power.
The third of the works “Roman Festivals” opens with the same dramatic sounds which featured in the depiction of the Appian way. Here the triumphal sounds become the sounds of gladiatorial combat. After this overexcited opening there were some lovely, lethargic orchestral sounds with echoing strings. In the middle sections the music conveys all the excitement, colours and movement of the community festivals. Here conductor Bellincampi was agile in stressing both the clamorous sounds as well as the gentler ones.
The final movement featured a strong, slightly discordant section which morphed into a folksy romanticism which included a mandolin-like sequence, before moving onto some circus sounds which recall the cinematic compositions of Nino Rota and his music for Fellini’s 8½ .The final movement ended with some thunderous sounds from the massed orchestra and percussion, bringing to an end to a entertaining journey.
The concert featured a number of musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music , as part of an ongoing collaboration with the APO.
To subscribe or follow New Zealand Arts Review site – www.nzartsreview.org.
The “Follow button” at the bottom right will appear and clicking on that button will allow you to follow that blog and all future posts will arrive on your email.
Or go to https://nzartsreview.org/blog/, Scroll down and click “Subscribe”
New Zealand Arts Review 