Nino Rota: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2

Nino Rota achieved international recognition primarily as a composer of film music. His most admired and enduring work in this field sprang from his collaboration with Federico Fellini. However, his orchestral music has recently undergone a reappraisal. Little of this music is available on CD and this programme is unique. Of the four symphonies that appear in his catalogue, Rota’s first and second were written simultaneously during the second half of the Thirties, when he had already developed his unmistakable, predominantly melodic style. Hints of a tenuous, well-balanced modernism are discernible, but at the same time he determinedly avoids any extreme experimentation. Common to both symphonies is a directness of expression embedded in a neoclassical style that constantly celebrates a landscape-in-sound. Marzio Conti’s previous recordings of Rota’s music released on Chandos have been very well received. The Orchestra Filarmonica ‘900 was founded in 2003 and is recognised for its Twentieth Century music performances.