Ottorino Respighi Il Tramonto Orchestre symphonique de Laval Isabel Bayrakdarian | soprano Alain Trudel | conductor ACD2 2732 • The Orchestre symphonique de Laval presents its first recording with Alain Trudel, its current artistic director and principal conductor.   The album consists of works by Ottorino Respighi, a man with an open mind and someone who was responsive to many influences. • Known for her sparkling stage presence and astonishing musicality, Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian joins the orchestra to sing the lyric poem Il tramonto (The Sunset).   The poem by the great English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was set to music by Respighi in 1914.   Il Tramonto was composed specifically for Chiarana Fino Savio, Respighi's friend to whom the work was also dedicated.   The poem itself embodies the purest Romantic tradition, with its depiction of a sunset symbolizing the death of two lovers, much like Wagner's Liebestod, which concludesTristan and Isolde. • The five pieces that comprise the suite Gli uccelli (The Birds) pay homage to the composers of the Baroque era who took pleasure in musically illustrating various aspects of life - birdsongs, in this case.   Trittico Botticelliano (Botticelli Triptych) consists of three symphonic poems inspired by the three most celebrated canvases of the Italian painter Sandro Botticelli.   As a composer and musicologist, Respighi was especially interested in early music, and particularly in Italian Renaissance and Baroque works.   Antiche Danze ed Ari per liuto, his orchestral Suite No. 1, was inspired by the music of four Renaissance composers. • Alain Trudel has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchestre symphonique de Laval since 2007.   An untiring supporter of emerging generations of musicians, in 2011 he was appointed the first Youth and Family Principal Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) Gli Uccelli (1928) [The Birds]   1. I. Prelude     2:44   2. II. La colomba     4:41   3. III. La gallina     2:55   4. IV. L'usignuolo     4:23   5. V. Il cucù     4:11   6. Il Tramonto (1914) [The Sunset] [Poemo lirico]     15:34 Trittico Botticelliano (1927)   7. I. La Primavera     5:37   8. II. L'Adorazione dei Magi     8:37   9. III. La nascita di Venere     4:47 Antiche Danze ed Ari per liuto (1917) [Airs et danses antiques - suite no.1] 10. I. Balletto detto « Il Conte Orlando »     2:21 11. II. Gagliarda     3:28 12. III. Villanella     4:34 13. IV. Passo mezzo e Mascherada     ATMA Classique is distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading PO Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone +61 (0)3 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile +61 (0)3 9444 6879