Deità Silvane, P 107
In alto mare, P 89 No. 1
Contrasto, P 66
L'ultima ebbrezza, P 8
Abbandono, P 89 No. 2
Stornellatrice, P 69
Cinque canti all'antica, P 71
Storia breve, P 52
Nel giardino, P 97 No. 6
Pioggia, P 90 No. 6
Lagrime, P 9
Quattro arie scozzesi, P 143
O falce di luna calante, P 90 No. 1
Notturno, P 11
Nebbie, P 64

Anyone who's listened to the orchestral works of Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) will agree that he was one of the pinnacles of late romantic, 20th century orchestration. His scores are full of aural delights and even include moments of pure sonic splendour. Belkis Queen of Sheba, Church Windows, and especially his Roman Trilogy, all evoke larger than life imagery, and inject a strong measure of the human spirit into the music. But what about something on a much smaller scale and more intimate like songs?

Being Italian, Respighi was no stranger to the vocal arts. He wrote at least a dozen operas, and a few choral works, songs and song cycles including the beautiful La Sensitiva. And as this new recording demonstrates, even at the pared down level of a single voice with piano accompaniment, this composer's intuitive sense of color and luminescent textures is apparent within every note. Tenor Timothy Fallon, who has been hailed by the New York Times as "possessing an elegant sense of phrasing and luminous tone with his sure-handed control of timbre, from velvety pianissimos to bright confident high notes", engages with the text and music, and always lends each song the proper expressive weight and probity. From the mysterious energy of life within The Fauns from Deità Silvane, to the romanticism of Notturno, his voice projects it all. And pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz, who specializes as a Lieder pianist, not only supports the vocal line but enhances it as well.

Recordings of these songs are few and far between, and this one certainly brings most of them together in a perfectly rounded package. As these songs demonstrate, there's much more to Ottorino Respighi than just epic magnificence and power.