Roman Snapshots

The evening

Khachaturian’s acclaimed ballet depicts the turbulent life of a slave, turned gladiator, turned revolutionary who almost brought the Roman Empire to its knees. The music is a tour de force of epic proportions evoking the splendour and barbarism of life during these brutal times, as well as moments of delicate tenderness as in the famous adagio. Berio’s anthology of eleven folk songs from eight countries and regions (USA, Armenia, Auvergne, Azerbaijan, France, Italy, Sardinia, and Sicily) is perhaps the earliest example of his fascination and experimentation with different musical culture and vernaculars. They are, in effect, traditional melodies recomposed (two of them are actually original pieces) that reflect and comment on their roots and meanings. Respighi’s most popular works are his triptych of wonderfully orchestrated musical postcards from the Eternal City. His sumptuous Pines of Rome depicts four scenes as witnessed by the trees that have stood sentinel for centuries: the glittering sunlit gardens of the Villa Borghese, the solemn hush of the Catacombs, the scented evening warmth on the elegant Janiculum hill, and the memory of an approaching Imperial army thundering past along the Appian Way.