In the S. Maria del Populo in Rome, there is a plaque in honor of Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), on which it can be read that Respighi had a great love for Rome and was the first composer to resonate in his music. Now the last statement is not entirely correct, for there are older musical portraits of the city of Rome, but they have not become as famous as Respighi's 'Roman' cycles. The first was
… "Fontane di Roma" from 1916, which is generally regarded as the most refined. Respighi not only chose four fountains, but combined his portraits with the four chronologically ordered moments of the day, from sunrise to sunset, so that the separate parts are still somewhat related to each other, as if it were a kind of musical 'day in Rome'. In 1921 " However, this does not detract from the value of this fine CD with ditto orchestral playing by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jesús López-Cobos. (JvG) _more
