Crepuscolo: Songs by Ottorino Respighi
Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, July 2022
The performances by Timothy Fallon and Ammiel Bushakevitz on Crepuscolo are superb. [Fallon] He is a polished and highly accomplished singer; his lovely voice is even and secure throughout the...
Crepuscolo: Songs by Ottorino Respighi
Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
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Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, July 2022
The performances by Timothy Fallon and Ammiel Bushakevitz on Crepuscolo are superb. [Fallon] He is a polished and highly accomplished singer; his lovely voice is even and secure throughout the...
About
Crepuscolo is the final song in Ottorino Respighi’s song cycle Deità silvane (‘Woodland deities’), but as an album title it also stands for the twilight during the interwar years of everything that Respighi represented, as various trends such as atonality, spiky neoclassicism and futurism flourished. In reaction to these developments, Respighi in 1932 famously signed a manifesto calling for music with a ‘human content’ – something which his songs certainly live up to: as Elsa Respighi, the composer’s wife, once said it was to his songs that he ‘entrusts his heart’s hidden secrets, when he lets his soul sing freely.’
From L’ultima ebbrezza, composed when Respighi was only 17 year sold, to the Four Scottish Songs from 1924, the songs recorded here attest to the variety of his musical interests, influences and styles, and are at turns lyrically operatic, expressionist, impressionist or symbolist. Respighi’s love of the Renaissance is also manifest in the Cinque canti all’antica, settings of poets including Boccaccio. Timothy Fallon and Ammiel Bushakevitz have previously released a Liszt recital described as ‘superb’ in Gramophone. They have now devised a varied programme which takes in three complete groups as well as a selection of individual songs, including Respighi’s most popular songs (Nebbie, Stornellatrice) as well as less well known ones.
Contents and tracklist
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
- Timothy Fallon (tenor), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
Awards and reviews
-
Presto Editor's ChoiceJuly 2022
Jan/Feb 2023
The performances by Timothy Fallon and Ammiel Bushakevitz on Crepuscolo are superb. [Fallon] He is a polished and highly accomplished singer; his lovely voice is even and secure throughout the registers. Bushakevitz’s impressive clarity of execution and opulent tone are ideal for Respighi’s piano writing that often suggests orchestral sonorities...an outstanding recital.
Mar/Apr 2023
…An excellent recital of the rarer end of the Italian song repertoire. It is faultlessly sung by the tenor, who provides a stream of steady and subtle Italianate singing. For all those who are fans of tenor singing and wish to try a little something different in Italian song, this is for you. Gratefully received are notes, texts, and translations.
October 2022
He brings the songs into the present with performances whose emotional immediacy seems suited to inner lives of the 21st century, sometimes suggesting a fevered heart (yes, we still have those) whispering to itself.
July 2022
This young American tenor has an arrestingly distinctive voice that's ideally suited to this music - in demand for roles like Belmonte and Ramiro thanks to his flexibility and ease up top, he can also deliver real firepower when necessary, and the range of colours on display here is quite remarkable. Bushakevitz does a wonderful job of conjuring the babbling brooks and finger-cymbals of Deita silvane, and the pair pull off the tricky set of Scottish songs with joyous aplomb.
