The Score | Roman Forum

Lots of orchestras perform in museums and libraries these days. But it’s not every orchestra that debuts a commissioned score that directly relates to an exhibit in a setting crammed with masterworks. In June, the Chamber Orchestra of New York gave the world premiere of Salvatore Di Vittorio’s La Villa d’Este a Tivoli, commissioned by the Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan and inspired by the museum’s exhibition City of the Soul: Rome and the Romantics. Di Vittorio’s newly composed score is a free transcription based on Liszt’s Fountains of Villa d’Este for piano. Di Vittorio is Chamber Orchestra of New York’s music director; he led his new score and music of Rameau, Respighi, and Mozart at the concert.