Page 301 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

27 October 2023

Verismo from Domingo Hindoyan

and the Royal Liverpool

Philharmonic Orchestra

Recording of the Week 27th October 2023

It was in March this year that I spent a very pleasant evening at Liverpool
Philharmonic Hall in the company of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and
their Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan, who treated us to orchestral highlights from
a selection of verismo operas, a theme that forms the basis of their latest recording.

One of the lovely aspects of the album is how Hindoyan has balanced familiar extracts with
much-rarer pieces, so I dare suggest that even for seasoned aficionados of the genre there
might well be one or two discoveries along the way. In the former camp comes the album's
opener, the famous 'Dance of the Hours' from Ponchielli's La Gioconda. It's an inspired
choice to kick things off as it reminds us that verismo needn't necessarily be doom and gloom
100% of the time, and showcases some exquisitely delicate playing from the woodwind and
harp especially.

Even with something as well-known as the Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria
rusticana, it's a joy how Hindoyan makes it sound fresh simply by following the markings in
the score: we are so often used to hearing the "big tune" played at full intensity from the get-
go that it is easy to forget that the strings here are actually initially marked pianissimo with a