The Eternal City by Respighi, Ibert, Minn (2024/2024), Surmast Direttur Giordano Bellincampi, Auckland Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand

The glitter of water in the Trevi Fountain, the jubilation of weary pilgrims reaching their destination, a nightingale singing in the balmy evening, the barbaric splendour of the storied Appian Way in its Imperial glory. The Eternal City has never sounded as spectacular as in Respighi’s exhilarating ‘Roman Trilogy’. It also features in Ibert’s unjustly neglected picture of his honeymoon travels around the Mediterranean, because he and Mme Ibert began their voyage in Rome. So, in a sense, did Giordano Bellincampi, who takes us back to the city where he was born. Presented in collaboration with the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)