While Ottorino Respighi‘s tone poems for orchestra are widely programed, his songs have seemingly never gained as strong a foothold in the repertoire as they should have. Perhaps it is due to a bias towards French and German art songs — and yet, Respighi’s liriche can be as colorful, poetic, and downright lovely as any selection from those traditions. Case in point: Rosa Feola‘s recording of the first song from Quattro rispetti toscani, whose every note is suffused with warmth and wonder. I highly recommend her Opus Arte recording with Iain Burnside, Musica e poesia, as jumping off point for Respighi and other Italian composers of songs.