A kernel of truth often lies in a cliché, and that is so for the old saw that through the centuries Italian musical culture has preferred and been more successful in vocal music than in instrumental. There are of course many and notable exceptions, and Ottorino Respighi is a case in point. After Puccini, it is...
Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 40, P. 40
A kernel of truth often lies in a cliché, and that is so for the old saw that through the centuries Italian musical culture has preferred and been more successful in vocal music than instrumental. There are of course many and notable exceptions, and Ottorino Respighi is a case in point. After Puccini, it is said...
Pines of Rome, P. 141
After Respighi moved permanently to Rome in 1913–at the time, a center of orchestral concerts in Italy–he turned more attention to the composition of instrumental music. His first big success was the symphonic poem, Fountains of Rome, from 1916, although it did not garner accolades immediately. But, by the...