MUSIClassical notes: RESPIGHI Adagio con Variazioni

The Adagio con Variazioni spans Respighi's evolution as a composer. In 1902 he studied briefly with Bruch in Berlin, before returning to Russia for work as an orchestral viola player. He also had a few lessons there with Rimsky-Korsakov, which proved highly influential on Respighi’s orchestration. He composed many works at that time, including a cello concerto. That concerto was not published, but in 1921 he returned to the cello work and revised its middle movement as the Adagio con Variazioni. Classical in formal conception, Romantic in expressive execution, the work was dedicated to the cellist Antonio Certani, Respighi’s old Bolognese friend and chamber music colleague.