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Donald Macleod looks at the partnership between Respighi and the famously fiery conductor, Toscanini.

This week, we’re invited to explore the richly evocative musical landscape of Ottorino Respighi. The colourful inventiveness of his most popular music was often inspired by images, places or stories, like his trio of ‘Tone Poems’: Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, and Roman Festivals. These works and others were frequently championed by celebrated conductor, Arturo Toscanini, and Respighi rose to become one of the leading Italian composers of the 20th century. He remains hugely popular with orchestras and audiences today. Respighi’s trademark orchestral brilliance betrays the influence of his Russian mentor, Rimsky-Korsakov. He was also fascinated by early music and sometimes incorporated antique styles into his works. In this series, Donald Macleod explores Respighi’s life and music from different perspectives, including his associations with Bologna, Rome and the USA, the important presence of his wife, Elsa, and also his complicated relationship with Toscanini.

Respighi first met the conductor Toscanini in 1904 in Bologna. It would be a crucial relationship for Respighi, although it was sometimes a tempestuous one as well. Toscanini could be a challenging friend, who wasn’t above criticising Respighi’s music in public. However, when Toscanini was threatened by a group of Fascist youths, after refusing to play their anthem, it was Respighi who stepped in to negotiate the conductor’s safe passage home.

Gli uccelli, P. 154 (The Hen)
San Francisco Symphony
Edo de Waart, conductor

Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3, P. 172 (excerpt)
Munich Radio Orchestra
Henry Raudales, conductor

Bach Arr. Respighi
Prelude and Fugue in D major, P 158 (after J.S. Bach’s BWV 532)
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège
John Neschling, conductor

Notturno, P. 44
Polina Osetinskaya, piano

Roman Festivals, P. 157
Philharmonia Orchestra
Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock, for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales