Classical home listening - Nino Rota, Philip Glass and Stravinsky

The Guardian 0

An all-star recording or Rota’s chamber music is a revelation; cellist Maya Beiser gets to the heart of Glass; and a bold take on The Rite of Spring

• The composer, pianist and conductor Nino Rota (1911-79) is best remembered for countless brilliant cinema scores, notably for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, but also for classics by his fellow Italians, the directors Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli: La Strada, Amarcord, La Dolce Vita and Juliet of the Spirits among them. Throughout his life, and despite composing on average 10 film scores a year, Rota also wrote concert music and opera. Nino Rota’s Chamber Music (Alpha Classics), performed by star players of the Berlin Philharmonic and friends – including Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Daishin Kashimoto (violin) and Paul Meyer (clarinet) – showcases Rota’s distinctive creative voice, its variety, point and spirit.

The five-movement Nonetto glitters and gleams with restless energy. Meyer, with Aurélien Pascal (cello) and Eric Le Sage (piano), makes a strong case for the flowing, abundant Clarinet Trio, which has a rhapsodic, lyrical slow movement. While you can see why Rota was a gifted film composer, in the stylistic fluidity and quick shifts of mood, this music more than stands alone and should be on the menu of every concert hall.