Ravinia 2024 Issue 3

Instead, she fell in love with her brother-in-law Paolo as they read together the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere. When Francesca’s husband dis- covered their secret liaison, he condemned them to death. Tchaikovsky prefaced his score with an extended excerpt from Francesca’s bit- tersweet memory of forbidden love. Nikolay Rubinstein conducted the world pre- miere in Moscow on February 25, 1877. After hearing Francesca da Rimini , Meck wrote, “Oh, what a joy Francesca is! What better portrays the horror of hell and the charms of love, and all the emotions that belong to the rarer levels of feeling! How can Wagner, with his realism, compare with you? He profanes the art, though unhappily he has great talent. God be with him. It is lucky we are not Germans or we should have to admire him. Now, we can say with im- punity, ‘Thank God, we have no Wagner, but have Peter Ilyich.’ ” This offhand comparison amused the composer, although he later admitted Wagner’s influence on Francesca to conductor Sergei Taneyev, the Gustave Doré’s The Souls of Paolo and Francesca for Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: Inferno , Canto 5 (1857) Nadezhda von Meck work’s dedicatee. “I was much interested in [César] Cui’s criticism of my Francesca . … His remark that I wrote it under the influence of the Nibelungen is very true; I recognized this myself when I was writing. If I am not mistaken, this influence is seen especially in the introduction. Isn’t it strange that I let an artistic work that I really don’t care for influence me?” Francesca da Rimini remains a glorious anomaly within Tchaikovsky’s orchestral music—a hybrid combination of symphonic form and ballet-type orchestra. Nowhere in the true symphonies does he use harp, English horn, or cornets—instru- ments present in this score. These belong more properly to the French operatic tradition or even Tchaikovsky’s own ballet music. Not surprising- ly, many contemporary musicians judged this unique and powerful union one of his most suc- cessful instrumental contributions. This symphonic fantasy descends to hellish depths in its Andante lugubre introduction. Tempestuous winds swirl as the perpetual pun- ishment begins. Loving memories of long-ago trysts inspire the solo clarinet melody, lightly accompanied by muted, pizzicato strings. Vio- lins intensify this amorous moment with swell- ing melodic phrases. The whole central section evokes the aural world of Tchaikovsky’s ballets. This magical reprieve is only temporary, and the lovers are again cast into eternal damnation and torment. OTTORINO RESPIGHI (1879–1936) Pini di Roma (The Pines of Rome) Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two B-flat clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, four trombones, timpani, triangle, tam-tam, finger cymbals, ratchet, cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, harp, bells, celesta, a phonograph recording of a nightingale, piano, organ, offstage trumpets and strings Bologna’s celebrated musical son, Ottorino Re- spighi, left his hometown in 1913 to become pro- fessor of composition at the Accademia (later, Conservatorio) di Santa Cecilia in Rome. The grandeur of that majestic city filled him with a sense of wonder and awe, which he conveyed in an acclaimed triptych of “Roman” symphonic poems: The Fountains of Rome (1914–16), Pines of Rome (1923–24), and Roman Festival (1928). The history, culture, architecture, and natural wonders of Rome grew deep roots in Respighi’s soul. Few objects symbolized to him the Eternal City more aptly than the centuries-old pine trees that witnessed the “principal events in Roman life” and outlived the empire itself. Orchestral music had suffered a severe decline in Italy during the 19th century. Composers and audiences alike considered opera a better medi- um for the compelling political and nationalist themes of the day. Respighi deserves unqualified praise for restoring symphonic writing to his country’s rich musical heritage. Lacking a vi- brant native tradition, he forged a distinctive orchestral idiom from two other musical influ- ences. His brilliant, innovative orchestration owes much to the Russian master Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, with whom he studied inter- mittently between 1900 and 1903. The prevailing verismo trend in Italian opera contributed a strong sense of characterization through “realis- tic” means. For the symphonic poem Pini di Roma (The Pines of Rome), Respighi drafted brief descrip- tions of the sights and sounds at four historic locations in Rome as portrayed by the orchestra. I. The Pines of the Villa Borghese. Children are at play in the pine groves of the Vil- la Borghese; they dance round in circles, they play at soldiers, marching and fighting, they are wrought up by their own cries like swallows at evening, they come and go in swarms. Suddenly the scene changes, and … II. Pines Near a Catacomb … we see the shades of the pines fringing the entrance to a catacomb. From the depth rises the sound of mournful psalm singing, floating through the air like a solemn hymn, and gradu- ally and mysteriously dispersing. III. The Pines of the Janiculum. A quiver runs through the air: the pines of the Janiculum stand distinctly outlined in the clear light of a full moon. A nightingale is singing. IV. The Pines of the Appian Way. Misty dawn on the Appian Way: solitary pines guarding the magic landscape; the muffled, ceaseless rhythm of unending footsteps. The poet has a fantastic vision of bygone glories: trumpets sound and, in the brilliance of the newly risen sun, a consular army bursts forth towards the Sacred Way, mounting in triumph to the Capitol. The world premiere of Pines of Rome took place Ottorino Respighi RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 22 – AUGUST 4, 2024 76