RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

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Manuel de FALLA (1876 - 1946) El Sombrero de tres picos (3 exc.) (1908) [9.59] El Amor Brujo (5 exc.) [16.23] Homenaje ‘Le tombeau de Claude Debussy’ (1920) [3.01] Homenaje ‘Pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas’ (1935) [3.48] (4) Obras Españolas (1908) [15.16] Fantasía Bética (1919) [13.02] Tres Obras de Juventud (1898) [12.01] Jean-François Heisser, piano Notes in English, Deutsch, and French. Recorded at the Salle Adyar, Paris, France September 1989 WARNER APEX 2564 60157 2 [74.27]

Comparison recordings: Artur Rubinstein, piano ADD RCA/BMG CD "Rubinstein Collection" Vol.18 Miguel Baselga, piano BIS 500773 Jean-François Heisser plays clearly, precisely and effectively and receives very good digital stereo recording. Since this is originally an Erato release some of the titles of the works are given in French. The Rubinstein recordings are monophonic, from the 1940s, and sound somewhat rough by modern standards, although they have been lovingly restored, including some hand retouching of the dynamic range. I do it myself; if it’s OK for art restorers it’s OK for music restorers! I just hope I’m a little more subtle about it. Rubinstein’s unerring theatrical instincts project this music most effectively in spite of dated sound, and if all you want are the Three Cornered Hat and the Love is a Sorcerer excerpts Rubinstein is your best choice. That disk also includes ‘Nights in the Gardens of Spain’ with Golschmann conducting, a superb (monophonic) recording by two masters of concerto repertoire, as well as some music by other Spanish composers. The Baselga recording contains only the complete solo piano music, not any theater music transcriptions. I don’t mean to say Heisser isn’t quite good on the theatre piece transcriptions, it’s just that he respects them musically and declines to make sacrifices for effect. Nor does he have quite the heart of deLarrocha or the roiling sensuality of Miguel Baselga. He plays the unfamiliar solo works, the Fantasía Bética and the anthologies of short pieces, quite effectively, although his technique is just a little strained here and there in the fantastically difficult Fantasía (commissioned, incidentally, by Rubinstein). The theatre piece transcriptions were apparently written out after the orchestral works were composed, and the Homenajes were eventually orchestrated, that for Debussy being originally a guitar work. As with Naxos releases, the track list is only on the back of the jewelcase and is not repeated in the program booklet (although a page of advertising is included) which makes for two-handed reading during listening. Paul Shoemaker   Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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