GIAN FRANCESCO MALIPIERO (1883-1973): Symphonies, Vol. 5 - Sinfonia dello zodiaco, Symphony No. 9 "dell' ahimè", Symphony No. 10 "Atropo".

Description: "The bizarre Sinfonia dello zodiaco is a 'symphony of symphonies', four three-movement `partitas', as Malipiero called them, illustrating the seasons. The Ninth...has real purpose and troubled eloquence to it. What the meaning of the 'Alas!' of its title may be seems to be obscure, but the recurrence in each movement of a sombre tolling element seems to predict the onslaught of percussion in the finale over which Malipiero wrote that exclamation, and his response to it is sadly lyrical, serious, even noble. The Tenth is oddly touching, even moving: a lament for Hermann Scherchen, who had died after conducting a performance of Malipiero's operatic trilogy L'Orfeide, it incorporates quotations from that work at beginning and end". - 1995 "Gramophone. Moscow Symphony Orchestra; Antonio de Almeida. Original 1993 Marco Polo release.