Manuel Ponce was the founder of Mexican musical nationalism, often incorporating the melodies of harmonised folk-songs into his music. Widely travelled—he studied in Europe, at...

Manuel Ponce was the founder of Mexican musical nationalism, often incorporating the melodies of harmonised folk-songs into his music. Widely travelled—he studied in Europe, at first in Bologna and then, between 1925 and 1933, as a pupil of Dukas in Paris—Ponce assimilated a wide range of styles and influences, including European-influenced Romanticism, indigenous idioms and a more advanced harmonic language. This is the first of eight volumes devoted to Ponce’s complete piano music.

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REVIEWS:

I am enormously impressed both by the recording and by the performances.

Much of the music is virtuosic, but you might not always realise this, such is the skill that serves to hide the expertise. At no point is Cendoya fazed by the requirements of this aspect; instead he revels in the exotic sonorities and technical demands.

© MusicWeb International

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Cendoya captures the rhythmic swagger and melodic verve that runs through all of these pieces with charming, easy fluency. It’s infectious music, beautifully played—a welcome find among the slush pile of recent CDs.

© 2013 CBC