Even though the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein was extremely critical about the early version, it did not stop the Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, which Tchaikovsky completed in February 1875, becoming one of the favourite works in the whole concert repertoire. It is hard to forget the burst of trumpet chords introducing the first movement, the audacious percussive piano, and the memorable theme, its lyrical melody rearing up continuously, like an image in sound of the composer himself. Some commentators do in fact believe it is based on certain letters in the Tchaikovsky’s name and the notes they indicate. The sonata form underlying the first and third movements is more of a neglected outline than a model to be followed: passion abounds, limits evaporate (virtuoso limits too), and the music becomes progressively more rhapsodic, bringing in folk themes. Tchaikovsky’s fatalism is overwhelming and exciting. Even the serene oasis of the Andantino semplice, introduced by a smoothly elegant melody on the flute, suddenly breaks into an nimble fast episode in which the exaggerated chromaticism becomes maddening. In the explosive Finale, Tchaikovsky creates a cyclic effect by reworking the introductory theme, turning it into a second theme, closing the Concerto with an unmistakable summing up.
Nuages and Fêtes (1899) have been paired ever since their première; the third Nocturne – Sirènes – needs a female choir. These two panels of Debussy’s triptych were inspired by paintings by the American artist James Whistler, but they are more than just descriptive pieces. They are true colour impressions that take shape from the substance of the music. It is in works like this that we start to see the material inspiration that marked a good part of 20th century music.
Feste Romane (1928), the third and last of Respighi’s well-known trilogy, is an extremely virtuoso symphonic poem with a shifting palette of timbre; the exciting rhythm and clever instrumentation (the composer had studied with Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg) blend in a vivid, lusty narration. Respighi also uses folk melodies, and there are references to the teachings of the National Schools.

Massimo Viazzo