Respighi: Roman Trilogy – Sinfonia of London, John Wilson

August 14, 2020, 9:00 am

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Following the widespread critical acclaim of their first two recordings, John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London turn to Respighi’s Roman Trilogy for their third release. Fountains of Rome was the first of these three great tone poems, inspired by a series of photographs given to the composer by the artist Edita Broglio. Pines of Rome was completed in 1924 – a particularly turbulent time in Italy, following Mussolini’s appointment as prime minister in 1922. Like Fountains, the work is explicitly programmatic and calls for extremely large orchestral forces. Roman Festivals has the largest orchestration of all, including a vast array of percussion as well as organ, four-hand piano, and mandolin.