Episode details

Radio 3,24 Jul 2026,150 mins

Series 2026

John Wilson conducts Respighi’s 'Roman Trilogy'

BBC Proms

Available for 78 days

Live at the BBC Proms: John Wilson conducts the Sinfonia of London in Verdi, Walton and Respighi's Roman Trilogy. Presented by Ian Skelly, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London. Verdi: The Force of Destiny – overture Walton: Cello Concerto c.8.10pm Interval: conductor Ben Gernon discusses how Rome - where Respighi lived from 1913 - became his home, professional base and creative muse. c.8.30pm Respighi: Roman Festivals Respighi: Fountains of Rome Respighi: Pines of Rome Jonathan Aasgaard (cello) Sinfonia of London John Wilson (conductor) John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London – hailed by critics as ‘peerless’ and ‘simply as good as it gets’ – are back for the first of two concerts this season. Ottorino Respighi’s love affair with Rome is captured in a trilogy of orchestral tone-poems – heat-soaked, colour-saturated works that invite the listener into the mercurial life of the Eternal City: festivals and dances, misty mornings and scented summer evenings, fanfares and solitary silence. The concert opens with Verdi’s much-loved overture to The Force of Destiny and Walton’s rhapsodic Cello Concerto, its ardent, yearning spirit perhaps a portrait of the composer’s own marriage. Norwegian cellist Jonathan Aasgaard is the soloist.

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    La Forza Del Destino - Opera In 4 Acts ; Overture
    La Forza Del Destino - Opera In 4 Acts ; Overture
    Giuseppe Verdi
  3. 2.
    Concerto
    Concerto
    William Walton
  4. 3.
    Ancient Airs and Dances Suite no. 1; Gagliarda
    Ancient Airs and Dances Suite no. 1; Gagliarda
    Ottorino Respighi