LORENZO PEROSI (1872-1956): Suite No. 2 for Orchestra “Venezia” (Orchestra Sinfonica stabile “Giovanni Francesco Pressenda” di Alba), Inno cattolico for Brass, Adagio from String Quartet No. 3, Le due strade, Tema variato (Orchestra Sinfonica “Nuova Cameristica di Milano”).

Description: The second of this priest-composer’s eight extant orchestral suites (and the fourth to be recorded by Bongiovanni) is a 40-minute work in three amiably flowing movements, the first seeming to suggest the waters of the city’s canals with its gently undulating underpinning. We are told little or nothing about the other two original pieces except the date (1922) of the Tema variato dedicated to Toscanini (did the maestro even know?); together they provide another 27 minutes of ultra-conservative Romanticism. Live recordings from “Perosiana” festvals in 2002, 2003 and 2008. Arturo Sacchetti (conductor).