Sergei Rachmaninoff:
5 Études-tableaux (Arr. for Orchestra by O. Respighi):
No. 1, La Mer et les Mouettes (The Sea and the Seagulls)
No. 2, La Foire (The Fair)
No. 3, Marche funebre (Funeral March)
No. 4, Le chaperon rouge et le loup (Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf)
No. 5, Marche (March)

Ottorino Respighi:
Trittico Botticelliano:
No. 1, La Primavera
No. 2, L’adorazione dei Magi
No. 3, La nascita di Venere

Giuseppe Martucci:
Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 75:
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegretto
IV. Mosso - Moderato - Allegro risoluto

On Italian Perspectives, the Bamberger Symphoniker and Riccardo Frizza trace the revival and evolution of Italian instrumental music. Giuseppe Martucci’s Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, completed in 1895, illuminates the Italian symphonic tradition often overshadowed by opera, blending Brahmsian rigor with striking, passionate outbursts. Respighi’s Trittico Botticelliano brings Renaissance paintings to life with luminous chamber orchestration, while his masterful orchestrations of Rachmaninoff’s 5 Études- Tableaux reveal a rare synthesis of Italian colour and Russian narrative depth. From desolate seascapes and dramatic funeral marches to the playful, suspenseful tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Respighi transforms piano works into vivid orchestral landscapes, preserving every nuance of Rachmaninoff’s originals. Riccardo Frizza, featured on PENTATONE in The Three Queens and Signor Gaetano (2022), leads the Bamberger Symphoniker in their PENTATONE debut, bringing these works to life with precision, colour, and expressive intensity.

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This album was recorded between 8-9 June 2022 (Martucci) and 8-10 May 2023 (Rachmaninoff, Respighi) at Joseph-Keilberth-Saal, Bamberg, Germany