OTTORINO RESPIGHI – COMPLETE PIANO MUSIC (1&2) REVIEW BY © JAN DE KRUIJFF, 2024 – MUSIKALIFEITEN

“That is why it is remarkable that he [Respighi Ed.] wrote so well and so intelligently for the instrument. Even when he sounds furious as in a piece marked ‘tempestuoso’ full of tremolandi, Gatto plays it exemplarily and she completed the Andante in E minor. By the way, her entire recital makes a great impression […]

The roots of this music are still in the High Romanticism of Chopin, Schumann and Brahms, but the singing has something Italian, reminiscent of the Baroque. These are works from his younger years between 1896 and 1898.
It is a pity in retrospect that Respighi did not write more for piano now that Giovanna Gatto has made such a finely successful case for him.”

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