Sinfonia Drammatica

Respighi’s Sinfonia Drammatica is a large, Straussian symphony with a duration of more than 60 minutes. Various commentators have pointed out similarities with César Franck’s Symphony in D minor, especially in terms of its cyclic structure, while echoes of Richard Strauss and Rimsky-Korsakov can be heard off and on throughout the piece, not only in the handling of the orchestra but also in the contours of some of the melodic lines. And while Wagner is not generally considered one of Respighi’s main sources of inspiration, the German composer’s influence can be sensed.

His last major work before the famous Roman Trilogy, conductor Robert Treviño considers this symphony as Respighi’s magnum opus. This impressive orchestral canvas already features many of the elements which later made Respighi one of the great voices in 20th century orchestral music: “I’ve recorded a fair amount with my dear partners at Ondine, and with my longtime collaborators, the musicians of the RAI, and to date, I’m most proud of this recording. It is my most sincere hope that it will inspire others to help bring this masterpiece into the recognized pantheon of the truly great works of art, and give Respighi the admiration he rightly deserves,” Robert Treviño writes in the album’s booklet notes.

The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai made its official debut in 1994 with Georges Prêtre and Giuseppe Sinopoli. Robert Treviño holds the role of Principal Guest Conductor. Starting October 2023, Andrés Orozco-Estrada is going to be the new Principal Conductor. Other important guest conductors include Carlo Maria Giulini, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Mstislav Rostropovič, Myung-Whun Chung, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Yuri Ahronovitch, Valery Gergiev, Marek Janowski, Semyon Bychkov, Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, Riccardo Chailly, Gerd Albrecht, Hartmud Hänchen, Mikko Franck, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding and Daniele Gatti. The Orchestra had numerous prestigious engagements worldwide: besides its international tours, and an invitation in 2006 to the Salzburg Festival and to Berlin’s Philharmonie, more recent years have seen the Orchestra performing in tours in Germany, Austria and Slovakia, including the debut at the Musikverein in Vienna.

Robert Trevino is regularly to be seen on the podiums of the world’s leading orchestras, from the London Symphony Orchestra to the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig to the Baltimore Symphony. He has been named the incoming Principal Conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra – after an enormously successful debut with them earlier this season – and he is Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI. The 2025/26 season also sees Trevino with the London Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Osaka Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestra della Svizzeria Italiana, La Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México. Other regular collaborators include the Münchner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Dresdner Philharmonie, SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, NDR Hannover, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, MDRSinfonieorchester Leipzig, Orchestre dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Helsinki Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony, NHK Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, among others. He was for eight years Music Director of the Basque National Orchestra, a period hailed as transformational in the orchestra’s history, as well as Chief Conductor of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra.

Sleeve notes in English