# What do you think of Respighi's Pini di Roma?



## Guest (Aug 19, 2018)

This one came first in the recently completed game of music from Italian composers.






I think it's a pretty cool piece, to be honest. Enthusiast recently made a thread on Respighi and I must admit that Respighi is a composer whose works I have always loved but never felt any desire to really explore in depth. Listening to bits of this piece again is very pleasant, but doesn't convince me to want to spend a great deal of time exploring his other works. I'm glad to see that he is well loved by those who voted for it in the Italian game.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's a nice work although not one I ever listen to except for game purposes. The Fountains of Rome came in 3rd place in the referenced music game; I feel the same about that one. I do have a warm spot for two or three other Respighi pieces which are in the chamber works category.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

_Pines_ is perhaps not, for me, the most rewarding of Respighi's evocations--but it certainly has its charms. I think many will prefer _Church Windows_, but also _Roman Festivals_, especially the opening and closing pieces, raises the hairs on the back of my neck. _The Botticelli Pictures_ also greatly please, especially the birth of Venus. Musical profundity is a wonderful thing, but one can grow thin and pale on a steady diet of it, and Respighi offers a wonderful tonic of brilliance and sparkle to cleanse the jaded palate. All things in moderation......


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I must say that done well, there is absolutely nothing, not one work, in the entire orchestral literature that is as thrilling, uplifting and electrifying as the end of Pines. But it's tricky - the tempo can't be too slow or too fast. The gradual crescendo must be handled flawlessy. Needless to say, the off-stage brass must be in-sync and play like their lives depend on it. I've played it, and been an audience member many times. Sometimes it misfires, but when everything clicks it's a hair-raising, shockingly exciting piece of music. There are a few recordings that convey something of the thrill, like Dutoit. Toscanini misses, but the ancient sound doesn't help. It may be a schlocky piece of second rate music, but that ending can sure make up for any other deficiencies. It's a guaranteed way to get a standing ovation.


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

Love it! I especially love how different each of the four movements are - the dazzling, whirlwind first, the deeply mysterious second, the nocturnal, sensuous third, and the thrillingly inexorable finale. It's like a journey from daylight into nighttime and back into daylight. It doesn't deserve to overshadow the rest of Respighi's output like it often does, though.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Bombastic, grandiose, turgid, overblown, as well as swollen, ostentatious, fustian and magniloquent. Is there really any other piece of music (with the possible exceptions of Respighi's other two Roman soundpieces, _Fountains of Rome_ and _Roman Festivals_), that can compete with _Pines of Rome_ as the best example of "unadulterated trash" (to quote from "The Record Shelf" host Jim Svejda's review) ever written by a "classical" composer?

But as Svejda also notes in his review, and here I agree with him wholeheartedly, too, "like everyone else who has ever fallen under their vulgar spell, I love all three to distraction." Indeed, the Respighi tone poems are awesome in their orchestration and impact. They make an indelible first impression, one which for me has meant returning to the music time and time again. And I think they are even more stunning when you can hear them with score in hand. So much going on you often can't catch it all without seeing all the instrumentation unfold on the page as you listen. Splendid stuff.

I would not want a record collection without a copy of Muti's Philadelphia Orchestra _Pines of Rome_ in it. Where else can you hear anything like this? (Have I mentioned that it is utterly bombastic, grandiose, turgid, overblown …?)


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Somebody around here recommended Lopez-Cobos and the Cincinnatians in the first two works of the trilogy, and Roman Festivals by the same forces along with Church Windows on another CD. That was a darned good recommendation!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Strange Magic said:


> Musical profundity is a wonderful thing, but one can grow thin and pale on a steady diet of it, and Respighi offers a wonderful tonic of brilliance and sparkle to cleanse the jaded palate. All things in moderation......


Would that I had known this years ago! I am quite thin and pale. My hair is thinning, my digestion is touchy, my prostate is enlarged, and I've lost interest in sex. I'll have some Respighi with my breakfast tomorrow and see what happens, but will keep _Parsifal_ handy in case the rush of hormones proves too much for my heart.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

It's a grandiose work. If some of you want to call it bombastic, do it. I have in high esteem the Respighi's music because of his extremely magnificent orchestration and how he gets such an energizing blaze of power in many of his works, the way he reaches some ineffable ecstasy levels is just priceless, and this work conveys that feeling quite good. I'm a person that reacts more positively to sunny music, to music that is created with warmth, passion and that lifts my spirit, hence another reason I like the Respighi's music very much. I often think composers don't have to compose quiet music all the time, nor compose explosive music permanently either. It's just a matter of filling niches, of having a right balance in the structure of works and overall in works.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Interesting piece. Very nice third movement. I only knew this composer from his charming Notturno for piano.
That finale almost reached the overwhelming intensity and noise levels of Jon Leifs - Hekla, but it didn't work for me as well as it should. The sound of this specific recording doesn't cut it. I will try a more modern recording.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Love it, one of my favourite symphonic poems. In general, Respighi has never disappointed me, and I've collected most of his work available on CD.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Love it. Reiner and Neschling do it brilliantly for me. Next question.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The music to his ballet "Belkis, Queen of Sheba " is sheer decadent fun ! You could possibly call the music "corny " and "over the top " , but I find it irresistible . How can you not love a work where the final part is called "Orgiastic dance ?" And boy is it orgiastic !


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

superhorn said:


> The music to his ballet "Belkis, Queen of Sheba " is sheer decadent fun ! You could possibly call the music "corny " and "over the top " , but I find it irresistible . How can you not love a work where the final part is called "Orgiastic dance ?" And boy is it orgiastic !


One of the most riotous pieces I know. Fun aplenty!


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

I've never caught the Respighi bug, but I like the Ancient Airs and Dances.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I agree with comments above, this is a brilliant orchestral showpiece. Its also believed to the first piece to incorporate a phonograph record, that of the nightingale which in the third movement is accompanied by harp, muted violins and a chord held by the low strings. In my mind, the final movement can't easily be separated from the rise of Mussolini and his attempt to make Italy into as great a force it was under the Roman empire. The sinister undertones though work in its favour, especially with the build up to the climax. No surprise how this was so influential - along with music by Respighi's teacher Rimsky-Korsakov - on film music. Miklos Rozsa's score to the marching Roman legions in Ben Hur for example could not have been the same without precursors such as this.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Never was much in my repeated listening program. Just don't find the music very interesting.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

I love it. It is one of my all-time favourite pieces, along with the 'Fountains' and indeed the lesser known 'Festivals'. There's a thread on here somewhere about taking just 3 CD's to a desert island and I have to say a CD of the three Rome poems would be a definite. 
My go-to is usually the Naxos disc (RPO / Batiz) which is so full of excitement, it would be perfect if it wasn't quite so brightly engineered. My definite 'run away' for Pines in particular would be the dreadful Svetlanov live recording from 1980, which although starting well enough with especially nice rasping trumpets, falls completely apart by the time we get to a disastrously plodding 'Appium Way' (think Cobra's Beethoven 9). The beautiful cor anglais solo is reduced to a sleepy set of parps amid audience sniffs, coughs and - was that a fart near the start of the movement? To cap it all, that final chord is straight out of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite! Here, have a listen to how 'Pines' should _not_ be played.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

techniquest said:


> ...
> My go-to is usually the Naxos disc (RPO / Batiz) which is so full of excitement, it would be perfect if it wasn't quite so brightly engineered...


I had that recording, a great performance but sounded a bit muddy. I subsequently got NYPO/Sinopoli which also has Fountains, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra playing Ancient Airs and Dances, and The Birds. I do miss Festivals a bit, especially the riotous Epiphany which I first heard in the 1990 broadcast of the Three Tenors concert in Rome. It served as a nice orchestral break during the vocal items.


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## Pesaro (Oct 4, 2017)

Pines has a great horn part and some great melodic lines. It falls nicely between the refinement of Fountains and the outrageousness of Feste Romane. Is it a masterpiece? That sort of depends on the type of concert one is attending. In the world of classical pops concerts, I would say yes but in a regular symphony concert, I would say "almost". It is great for one thing and that is showing off your audio equipment but Feste Romane might even be better for that purpose.

Believe it or not, my favorite recording of Pines is by Neville Marriner. He treats it like real music and the all important horn parts have great clarity. Compare Marriner to Ormandy and you can hear the difference.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I have multiple recordings and have heard it thrice in concert. All three times brass members joined the orchestra from the balcony, back of hall, etc. during the finale. It was quite thrilling. I think you'd have another opinion of the music if you heard it in concert this way. It is certainly among the most memorable concert experiences I've had in 50 years.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

It's a fine piece that starts with a highly colorful splash, has a beautifully nostalgic clarinet solo in the middle and builds to a tremendously effective climax.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

Pesaro said:


> Believe it or not, my favorite recording of Pines is by Neville Marriner. He treats it like real music and the all important horn parts have great clarity. Compare Marriner to Ormandy and you can hear the difference.





larold said:


> I have multiple recordings and have heard it thrice in concert. All three times brass members joined the orchestra from the balcony, back of hall, etc. during the finale. It was quite thrilling. I think you'd have another opinion of the music if you heard it in concert this way. It is certainly among the most memorable concert experiences I've had in 50 years.


Back in 1985 I heard Marriner with the Minnesota O here in Sydney. He played a great Pines, with little clusters of spacial brass all around the hall for the finale. It was quite overwhelming. Heck of a concert, that; they also played Appalachian Spring, Overture to Meistersinger, and accompanied Cecile Licard in Beethoven 3.

I've always had a soft spot for Pines, ever since. I played in a performance a decade ago. We used a PC with sound file for the nightingale in _iii_, rather than the RCA 78 that Respighi specified!
Graeme


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

_Back in 1985 I heard Marriner with the Minnesota O here in Sydney. He played a great Pines..._

This is for another forum, no doubt, and I've stated this case before -- but I am always surprised how little respect Marriner receives in "greatest conductor" forums around the world. He is consistently cast as milquetoast and bland when, in my opinion, his musicmaking is anything but that. Depending on the source he was either the fourth or fifth-best selling coductors of LPs and CDs in history, trailing only Toscanini, Karajan, Ormandy and perhaps Bernstein, but you'd never know it from his reputation. His repertorie was greater than almost anyone's, stretching from the Renaissance to late 20th century music. This is another case where he excels in repertory not associated with him.


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