Albéniz: Piano Music Vol 3 / Guillermo González

$19.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
April 28, 2009
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      ALBENIZ, ISAAC
    • PERFORMER
      Guillermo Gonzalez
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      April 28, 2009
    • UPC
      747313219674
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8572196
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Instrumental
    Works ⌄

    1. No. 1 in D Major

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    2. No. 2 in B-Flat Major

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    3. No. 3 in E-Flat Major

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    4. No. 4 in G Major

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    5. No. 5 in A-Flat Major

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    6. No. 6 in D Major

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    7. No. 1. Allegretto

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    8. No. 2. Melancolico

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    9. No. 3. Allegro ben ritmato

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    10. No. 4. Allegretto

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    11. No. 5. Con brio e ritmo

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    12. No. 6. Allegro molto

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    13. No. 1. Isabel

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    14. No. 2. Casilda

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    15. No. 3. Aurora

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    16. No. 4. Sofia

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    17. No. 5. Christa

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González

    18. No. 6. Maria

      Composer: Isaac Albéniz

      Performer: Guillermo González




ALBÉNIZ Danzas españolas. Pequeños valses. Mazurkas de salon • Guillermo González (pn) • NAXOS 8.572196 (69:42)


Isaac Albéniz wrote some of the defining piano music of the Spanish school. By and large, this is not it. This disc, the third in Naxos’s Albéniz series, is devoted to salon music composed early in the composer’s life. At the time, he was known as a piano virtuoso who also gave lessons to young ladies to whom he dedicated many of his salon pieces, including all six of these mazurkas.


Premonitions of the mature Albéniz may be glimpsed in the Danzas españolas , which shares a pleasant lilt, usually in habanera rhythm, and the composer’s predilection for a melodic line in three against a languid accompanying figure in four. The pieces resemble Granados’s later set of Spanish Dances in their occasional underlying hint of melancholy, but those in Albéniz’s set are neither as formally diverse nor as pianistically challenging as are those of his slightly younger contemporary. Chopin is the predominant influence in the sets of waltzes and mazurkas. Once again the results, while mellifluous and polished, are no comparison to the works of the Polish master in terms of ingenuity and memorability.


González, a noted Albéniz specialist, has the kind of muscular technique necessary to tackle Iberia and the late masterpieces, but lacks delicacy in this refined repertoire. There would be no whispering or throat clearing in his salon! Overall, this is a pleasant collection but unrepresentative of the composer’s most exciting work. If you are curious about the antecedents of Iberia , it is worth a listen.


FANFARE: Phillip Scott