Search - Nino Rota, Ole Kristian Ruud, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra :: Rota: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Another great discovery

V. Wilson | Cambridge, MA United States | 02/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You have to love the small independent (and mostly foreign) recording companies. Labels like BIS (& Hyperion) mine the forgotten byways of music for treasures like these two symphonies by one of the great film composers of the 20th century.Both pieces were clearly written in the 20th century--they use the orchestra as no one in the 19th century would--but with the exception of a piquant harmony here or there these pieces are definitely throwbacks. Chock full of wonderful melodies, they remind me of the symphonies of Randall Thompson. Delightful moments abound, but don't miss the unfolding of the introduction to the finale of the First Symphony. One can hear an occasional hint of the movies, but unlike the "serious" music of someone like Korngold, these pieces aren't really technicolor in inspiration. Instead, they just glory in the fun of musicmaking.Don't hesitate. If you like Vaughan Williams or Respighi, you'll like this disk. Playing is fine and the sonics are up to BIS high standards."

Wonderful...

Dwayne | 03/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although these are mostly aesthetic pieces (he did do some experimentation elsewhere in his concert output), fans of the composers film music won't be disappointed. It is wonderful, gentle, emotional, and stirring music. The first symphony was once hailed as a masterpiece by Bela Bartok! Both are very strong works in the composers output, and the recording is terrific! I had this cd on for many hours straight, it's just lovely. Highly recommended to film score fans."

Good performances, but I am less sure that this is music wor

G.D. | Norway | 09/13/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Nino Rota is of course most famous for his film scores, but he wrote a rather substantial amount of concert music. The first two symphonies are early works and do exhibit a certain youthful spirit, I guess, although I have to take exception to the praise they have received from other reviewers and reviewers elsewhere. Both works are modest in scope, innocent and elegant, but quite frankly rather dull. The first symphony was written between 1935 and 1939 and shows the influence of - among others - Sibelius, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and early Hindemith. There is no doubt that Rota was an effective orchestrator, but he isn't quite able to salvage this long-winded (despite its relative brevity) and somewhat aimless creation. There are good things in here, and the finale does perhaps plumb deeper water, but overall the whole thing is rather forgettable.



The second symphony, on which he embarked in 1937 (while working on his first) sounds rather heavily influenced by the American Boulanger-generation, but again it is a modest, somewhat introverted neo-classical work, light but with some fine instrumental touches. And this time around Rota shows himself to be very much a master of form and development, so despite the paucity of interesting material, the symphony does actually constitute a rather decent listening experience.



The performances are well-judged and good, it seems, and both works are played with an eye for tonal color and argumentative cogency, even though I suspect more warmth could be brought to the music than Ole Kristian Ruud and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra do. Sound quality is, however, excellent as usual for BIS. So, to sum up, there is nothing really exciting going on here, even though both works might be worth hearing once (and I should mention that there are people, and not very few, who disagree with my assessment of the music)."