Crepuscolo is the final song in Ottorino Respighi's song cycle DeitÃ silvane ('woodland deities'), but as an album title it also stands for the twilight during the interwar years of everything that Respighi represented, as various trends such as atonality, spiky neoclassicism and futurism flourished. In reaction to these developments, Respighi in 1932 famously signed a manifesto calling for music with a 'human content' - something which his songs certainly live up to: as Elsa Respighi, the composer's wife, once said it was to his songs that he 'entrusts his heart's hidden secrets, when he let's his soul sing freely.' From L'ultima ebbrezza, composed when Respighi was only 17 years old, to the Four Scottish Songs from 1924, the songs recorded here attest to the variety of his musical interests, influences and styles, and are at turns lyrically operatic, expressionist, impressionist or symbolist. Respighi's love of the Renaissance is also manifest in the Cinque canti all'antica, settings of poets including Boccaccio. Timothy Fallon and Ammiel Bushakevitz have previously released a Liszt recital described as 'superb' in Gramophone. They have now devised a varied program which takes in three complete groups as well as a selection of individual songs, including Respighi's most popular songs (Nebbie, Stornellatrice) as well as less well known ones.

Tracklist:

Deità Silvane, P. 107: No. 1, I Fauni
Deità Silvane, P. 107: No. 2, Musica In Horto
Deità Silvane, P. 107: No. 3, Egle
Deità Silvane, P. 107: No. 4, Acqua
Deità Silvane, P. 107: No. 5, Crepuscolo
6 Melodie, P. 89 (Excerpts): No. 1, In Alto Mare
Contrasto, P. 66
L’ultima Ebberezza, P. 8
6 Melodie, P. 89 (Excerpts): No. 2, Abbandono
Stornellatrice, P. 69
5 Canti All'antica, P. 71: No. 1, L'udir Talvolta
5 Canti All'antica, P. 71: No. 2, Ma Come Potrei
5 Canti All'antica, P. 71: No. 3, Ballata
5 Canti All'antica, P. 71: No. 4, Bella Porta Di Rubini
5 Canti All'antica, P. 71: No. 5, Canzone Nell'opera Comica Re Enzo
Storia Breve, P. 52
6 Liriche, Series 2, P. 97: No. 6, Il Giardino
6 Liriche, Series 1, P. 90 (Excerpts): No. 6, Pioggia
Lagrime, P. 9
4 Scottish Songs, P. 143: No. 1, When The Kye Come Hame
4 Scottish Songs, P. 143: No. 2, Within A Mile Of Edinburgh Town
4 Scottish Songs, P. 143: No. 3, My Heart's In The Highlands
4 Scottish Songs, P. 143: No. 4, The Piper Of Dundee
6 Liriche, Series 1, P. 90 (Excerpts): No. 1, O Falce Di Luna
Notturno In E-Flat Major, P. 11
Nebbie, P. 64

UPC: 7318599926322
Label: Bis
Release Date: 6.3.22
Format: CD

Respighi / Fallon / Bushakevitz - Crepuscolo - Songs (Hybr) (CD)