This very inexpensive Regis reissue joins a number of recommendable
bargain recordings of Spanish music on the label. The present
recordings were originally made by Brian Culverhouse, from whom
they have been licensed, as noted in the booklet. What the notes
don’t make clear is that they have all been round the block several
times, though none the worse for that; the Sinfonía Sevillana
appeared on EMI CDC7 49542-2 and the two items performed by the
Mexican orchestra were released by ASV on CDDCA735. The other
items also originally appeared on EMI, on LP, and the whole collection
was last issued by IMG (IMGCD1608), much too long ago for it to
have been reviewed here on MusicWeb.
If you like the music of Albeniz and de Falla,
you’ll probably respond favourably to their slightly younger
contemporary, Turina, though you should be prepared for a rather
less talented and more up-front composer. The Concise Grove
refers to Turina’s grace and wit, not exactly qualities which
I would associate with this programme. I lean rather to the
reference to colour and atmosphere in the article in the Oxford
Companion to Music. This is not music that I would play
to be charmed; rather it’s music that would serve to cheer you
up.
The opening of the first piece, the Rapsodia,
is a case in point – Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain
are clearly a distant model, but the opening of this music is
more in your face, especially in this close recording. I immediately
reduced the volume by 3dB from my normal listening position,
which improved matters considerably. The Rapsodia may
not begin very rhapsodically, but it does quickly become more
placid, more pensive – and more likeable.
The performance matches the mood of the music at
every point – Wibaut’s playing of the solo piano part is especially
praiseworthy. There is an alternative performance with the
wonderful Alicia de la Larrocha as soloist, available as a Decca
2-CD set at lower mid price or as a super-bargain on Australian
Eloquence; you may prefer her coupling, especially at the low
Eloquence price, in the same lowest range as this Regis CD,
as her version puts Turina in the context of other Spanish composers,
Albéniz, Montsalvatge and Surinach (476 2971). Paul Shoemaker
recommended this recording, though he had reservations about
the CD’s compatibility with all his players – see review.
The Danzas Fantásticas are probably Turina’s
best-known work, colourful music which receives an appropriately
colourful performance. Though originally written for the piano,
it’s difficult to imagine this music, like Pictures from an
Exhibition, in other than orchestral guise. If you want the
piano originals, however, Patrick Waller was reasonably pleased
with the versions by Masó on Naxos, coupled with some of Turina’s
other dance music for piano (8.557150 – see review.)
Steve Arloff was rather less impressed – see review:
his comment that Turina emerges as a first-rate tenth-rate composer
is perhaps a little harsh, but it’s not a million miles from my
own position; I take his point that there are several other Spanish
composers whose music I’d rate somewhat higher.
The Sinfonía Sevillana was composed as a
tribute to that city. Again, it’s attractive music; very appealing
in parts, but it could hardly be described as top-rank, and
it receives a sympathetic performance. The three movements
carry descriptive titles relating to aspects of the city – Panorama,
Por el rio Guadalquivir - the river which runs through
the city, oddly spelled Quadalquivir twice in the track
listing - and Fiesta en San Juan de Aznalfarache – all
very evocative, but this isn’t programme music in the manner
of Strauss’s Alpine Symphony.
The performances of all these pieces by the LPO
are excellent – they play as if to the manner born, prepared
to let their hair down but also to stress the more delicate
aspects of the music where appropriate. The remaining items
are performed by the City of Mexico Philharmonic, a slightly
more rough-and-ready body of musicians, whose style suits the
two movements of la Procesión, a colourful early work,
well. The booklet quotes Sir Henry Wood’s comment that this
music always went down well and the performance here shows why.
The disc ends with the Bullfighter’s Prayer, a
work more normally performed in its original chamber guise.
It sounds a little overblown in full orchestral dress here,
but it remains effective in this form and it rounds off the
programme well. The City of Mexico Philharmonic are as well
attuned to its mood as they were to la Procesión – this
is the gracious side of Turina, to which Grove
refers, but which is mostly lacking in the rest of the programme;
it’s affective without being unduly so.
I’ve already described the recording as close and
benefiting from a volume reduction. It came perilously close
to sounding distorted at normal volume on a system that is fairly
tolerant of high volumes, but I don’t want to give the impression
that it’s other than appropriate for the music – brash where
brashness is appropriate and delicate where delicacy is called
for. If the playing of the Mexican orchestra is a little more
rough-and-ready than that of the LPO, the recording is, if anything,
slightly less brash here. Some original reviews of the ASV
release of these works suggested problems which seem to have
been smoothed out in the re-mastering.
The notes in the booklet are more than adequate
– something which can’t always be taken for granted in this
price-range – and the booklet itself is attractively presented.
The compositor didn’t seem to be able to decide whether sinfonía
needed an accent, as in the body of the notes, or not, as on
the rear cover and insert. My dictionary says that it does.
There’s no reason not to go for this reissued CD,
especially at the price, which I liked much better the second
time round. If, however, for any reason, you’re looking for an
alternative in the same price-bracket, the Sinfonía, Danzas
and Procesión are coupled with Ritmos on a Naxos
CD (8.555955) which Jonathan Woolf recommended some time ago –
see review.
Brian
Wilson
