Respighi: Festes romanes

Sala 1 Pau Casals in Barcelona hosts a performance of Festes romanes, the celebrated symphonic work by the composer Ottorino Respighi.

Festes romanes is the final instalment of Ottorino Respighi's Roman trilogy, a set of symphonic poems composed during the first decades of the twentieth century that established the Italian composer as one of the great orchestrators of his era. The score stands out for its overwhelming instrumental complexity, calling for a large orchestral line-up that includes a substantial wind and percussion section to evoke with precision the festivities, street scenes and bustle of ancient and modern Rome.

In performance, bringing this work to the stage demands extreme technical precision and a great deal of rapport among the musicians in order to balance the harmonic density with the more lyrical passages. The programme offers a sonic journey through different historical vignettes, from circus games to popular celebrations. This proposal is particularly suited to devotees of symphonic classical music with an interest in the great orchestral forms of the early twentieth century, as part of the regular programming at Sala 1 Pau Casals.