Respighi in New York

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1929, the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi capped his trilogy of symphonic tone poems based on Roman scenery and history with the premiere performance of his “Roman Festivals.”

Unlike the first two installments, “The Fountains of Rome” and “The Pines of Rome,” which were both premiered in Rome by Italian orchestras, “Roman Festivals” premiered in America at Carnegie Hall, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Arturo Toscanini.

“All three of the compositions are [full of] brilliant instrumental effects,” wrote music critic Olin Downes in his New York Times review the following day. “’Roman Festivals’ however, fairly caps the climax for sheer orchestral sonority … The first part … is really wild and brutal music, the dramatic idea being the howls and cries of the crowd at the Circus Maximus, the salutations for Nero, the opening of the iron gates and the roaring of beasts, the hymn of the Christians about to be slaughtered... The passage is short, but of a stunning power."

But Olin Downes ended his review with a Nero-esque thumbs-down: "All this program material furnishes Mr. Respighi opportunity for descriptive writing,” concludes the review, “but the music is of no merit.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Ottorino Resphigi (1879 — 1936) — Roman Festivals (Philadelphia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, cond.) Angel/EMI 47316

On This Day

Births

• 1801 - Czech composer Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda, in Prague;

• 1836 - French composer Léo Delibes, in St. Germain du Val, Sarthe;

• 1844 - French composer and organist Charles Marie Widor, in Lyons;

Deaths

• 1996 - American composer and conductor Morton Gould, age 82, in Orlando, Fla.

Premieres

• 1727 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 52 ("Ich habe genug") performed on the Feast of the Purification as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1744 - Handel: oratorio “Semele,” in London (Julian date: Feb. 10);

• 1749 - Handel: oratorio “Susanna” in London (Julian date: Feb. 10);

• 1886 - Mussorgsky (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov): opera “Khovanschchina,” posthumously, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Feb. 9);

• 1907 - Delius: opera, "A Village Romeo and Juliet," in Berlin;

• 1909 - Liadov: “Enchanted Lake” for orchestra, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Feb. 8);

• 1917 - Rachmaninoff: “Etudes-tableaux,” Op. 39 (Gregorian date: March 6);

• 1920 - Milhaud: ballet "Le Boeuf sur la toît," in Paris;

• 1929 - Respighi: orchestral suite, "Roman Festivals," by the New York Philharmonic, Toscanini conducting;

• 1946 - Roy Harris: "Memories of a Child's Sunday," by the New York Philharmonic with the composer conducting;

• 1948 - Cowell: Suite for Woodwind Quintet, by an ensemble at the McMillan Theater of Columbia University in New York City; This work was written in 1933 for the French flutist Georges Barrère, but the score and parts remained lost until 1947.