Lush romantic and gorging tunes predominate Pizzetti's music and it occasionally reminded me of Zemlinsky rather than Respighi who is the more obvious comparison. These are exceptionally well prepared performances by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Osmo Vanska is the ideal exponent with some brazenly figured conducting rather in the manner of his exceptional Sibelius cycle for BIS.

The symphonic poem, 'Rondo Veneziano' is full of colour and panache and this is indeed a well-drilled performance throughout. I enjoyed the dreamy, heady lush scoring especially in the almost orgiastic closing pages of the score. The same goes for 'Preludio a un altro giorno', full of subtle orchestral effects and magnificent colour. I was also greatly impressed by the Tre Preludi Sinfonici, here Pizzetti's debt to Respighi's 'Trittico Botticelliano' is altogether more in evidence. The tempi chosen for the second and third preludes indicate the intense passion that the composer lends to these pieces, Con impeto and Con molta impressione di dolore are indeed strange but highly evocative!

The five-movement suite, 'La Pisanella' also contains much wondrous music especially in the harrowing 'Au Chateau de la Reine sans merci' and the orgiastically exploding 'La danse de l'Amour et de la Mort parfumee', once again similar to Respighi's bacchanalian 'Feste Romane'. Hyperion's recording is lush and rich in textures with particular prominence given to the bass end of the spectrum. The music struck me as terrifically vivid and imaginative and I felt that this issue could signify some sort of revival into Pizzetti's orchestral music rather in the mould of that spate of Chandos releases which so changed the spectrum of appreciation for Ottorino Respighi. I will be re-visiting this disc often especially that imaginative and dreamy 'Rondo'.

Reviewer

Gerald Fenech

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