Nino Rota - Symphony No. 3, Concerto Festivo per Orchestra, Le Molière Imaginare

Nino ROTA (1911-1979)

Symphony No. 3, Concerto Festivo per Orchestra, Le Molière Imaginare

Norrköping Symphony Orchestra 

Ole Kristian Ruud 

 Hannu Koivula

• BIS is delighted to announce the release of Nino Rota’s Symphony No. 3, coupled with works which complete the survey of his orchestral music. In contrast to the first two symphonies (BIS CD 970), which were youthful works written before the composer’s thirtieth year, Symphony No. 3 was composed by a man in the full bloom of his career, writing the music for Fellini masterpieces such as Le notti di Cabiria and La dolce vita.

• The second work on this CD, Concerto Festivo, hails from the same period as the symphony, and demonstrates Rota's remarkable ability to exploit the resources of the orchestra. Also included on the disc is the suite made from the music to the ballet Le Molière Imaginaire. The Ballet Suite was premièred in 1978, the year before Rota died, and is one of his happiest scores. Here the master demonstrates his ability to mix different styles in a most natural manner, without ever losing the poetic and expressive idiom that was uniquely his - even when recreating 17th century France in music.

• The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ole Kristian Ruud give a stunning performance of Symphony No. 3 ("Highly recommended for the adventurous" Gramophone on BIS CD 970). For the rest of the programme the baton is taken up by the conductor Hannu Koivula, one of the most gifted Finnish conductors of his generation, who here makes his BIS début.

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The idiom on display here stands squarely in the neo-classical tradition, a sort of Italianate Poulenc or Kurt Weill (from the period of the Second Symphony). Nino Rota's tuneful, expertly scored Third Symphony offers charm and wit without ever becoming facile, and sports a truly lovely slow movement. Ole Kristian Ruud conducts a fine performance with the single possible exception of the third movement scherzo, which could move a bit faster. On the other hand, he gets the tempo of the finale exactly right: brisk but not to the point where the excellent Norrköping winds have trouble tonguing the repeated notes of the principal theme. In all, this is a delightful work that ought to be played far more often, particularly by chamber orchestras.

Hannu Koivula leads the remainder of the program. The Concerto festivo, subtitled "Concerto for Orchestra" lets all of the solo players strut their stuff in the course of five delightfully brief movements. A delicious little "cabaletta" follows the second movement "aria" in typically Italian fashion, and its acrobatic high jinks will bring a smile to the lips of any sympathetic listener. The suite from the ballet Le Molière imaginaire evokes Prokofiev (Cinderella especially), with a wholly apt touch of Offenbach fortifying such movements as the final gallop, or the marvelous slow waltz representing the character of Armande. Koivula leads delightful performances with nary a dull second, and as with the symphony the Norrköping orchestra does the music proud. Sonics are a touch bright, but otherwise are admirably clear and finely detailed.