OTTORINO RESPIGHI (1879-1936): Rossiniana, Preludio, corale e fuga, Burlesca, RESPIGHI/SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873-1943): 5 Études-tableaux from Opp. 33 and 39.

Description: A collection of little-recorded Respighi, with the 1901 Preludio... an ambitious, brilliantly scored orchestral spectacular which summons reminiscences of Saint-Saëns, Brahms and Richard Strauss, and the 1906 Burlesca, which engaginly marries Dvorák and Sibelius, the youthful pieces. Rossiniana (1925) freely transcribes four of the multitudinous late Pêches de vieillesse piano pieces of the retired operatic legend and, from 1930 come the Rachmaninov transcriptions - an utterly winning combination of the original composer's Russian color and mood (the originals include Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, a sea-scene, a rustic fair, an oriental march and a funeral march) with the mature Respighi's sumptuous orchestration. BBC Philharmonic; Gianandrea Noseda.