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Nimbus

Moleiro: Piano Works / Clara Rodriguez

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Details

Composer
MOLEIRO, MOISES
Artist
Clara Rodriguez
Format
CD
Label
Nimbus
Released
Mar 01, 2009
Catalog #
NI6104
UPC
710357610424

About

Attractive and unfamiliar keyboard works, well played.

This appears to be a reissue of a recital previously available on ASV (ASV CD DCA 890), and recorded, I believe, in 1994. It is good to have it back in circulation, as it offers a well-played representation of an interesting minor composer.

Moleiro was born in Zaraza in Venezuela and in the mid 1920s he studied piano in Caracas with a well-known teacher, Don Salvador Llamozas. He went on to make a career as a pianist, composer and teacher. This present CD includes the bulk of the work he wrote for the piano.

Most of the music here is not strikingly Latin American in manner, although there are a few distinctive touches here and there which speak of its geographical origins. For the most part Moleiro's piano music has about it a kind of aristocratic grace, and works within mostly European models understood from a South American perspective. At times one senses a kind of nostalgia for European forms and what they might represent. One is not surprised to encounter 'El senor de la peluca' - the gentleman with the wig - or to find oneself listening to a charming Waltz.

Moleiro's Sonatinas are written in the tradition of Scarlatti (though being far from mere pastiche); his Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor have more than a little of Bach about them; the Serenade in the Spanish Style speaks for itself; the Estudio de concierto has clear affinities with Chopin and the delightful La fuente registers its composer's knowledge of Ravel and Debussy. But everywhere there is enough evidence of a personal sensibility at work to maintain the listener's interest. At times Moleiro's programmatic miniatures - such as La muchacha de la herrería (the girl from the blacksmiths), El herrero (The blacksmith) and Los pájaros (The birds) - are attractive additions to a familiar keyboard tradition.

The last two pieces on the CD are the most distinctive. It is unfortunate that the relatively scanty documentation that comes with this CD gives no dates for any of the compositions, so that one has no way of knowing whether or not the sequence of music heard in any way represents the composer's stylistic development. Certainly Estampas del llano (Pictures of the plains) and Joropo are far more thoroughly infused with a sense of the composer's native land, and without that nostalgic air mentioned above. Though the musical language of Estampas del llano is essentially European in nature, its evocation of the Venezuelan plains, in their contrasting fecundity and aridity, makes it music that no European composer would have written. The joropo music of Venezuela grew out of the fusion of ancient Spanish traditions, including the fandango and the malagueña (themselves incorporating Arabic influences) with the musics of African slaves and of native South American Indians. It is a heady mix and from it has grown some exciting music. A good deal of that excitement is captured in Moleiro's Joropo for piano, played with considerable panache by Clara Rodriguez.

Throughout this recital the sureness of Rodriguez' technique is evident, and her flexibility ensures that she can sound at home in all of the various musical idioms on which Moleiro's piano music touches. This makes for a consistently entertaining programme - a CD that makes a case, without overstatement, for the music of a figure too little known beyond his native land.

-- Glyn Pursglove, MusicWeb International 

Tracklist 26 tracks

  1. 1 Piano Sonatina No. 1 in A Minor 02:54
    Track
    1
    Title
    Piano Sonatina No. 1 in A Minor
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  2. 2 Piano Sonatina No. 2 in C Major 03:15
    Track
    2
    Title
    Piano Sonatina No. 2 in C Major
    Duration
    03:15
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  3. 3 Piano Sonatina No. 4 in G Minor 04:47
    Track
    3
    Title
    Piano Sonatina No. 4 in G Minor
    Duration
    04:47
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  4. 4 Piano Sonatina No. 3 in D Major 03:17
    Track
    4
    Title
    Piano Sonatina No. 3 in D Major
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  5. 5 Piano Sonatina No. 5 in C Major 03:01
    Track
    5
    Title
    Piano Sonatina No. 5 in C Major
    Duration
    03:01
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  6. 6 Toccata in C-Sharp Minor 02:32
    Track
    6
    Title
    Toccata in C-Sharp Minor
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  7. 7 Toccata in B Minor 02:40
    Track
    7
    Title
    Toccata in B Minor
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  8. 8 Toccata in C Major 02:42
    Track
    8
    Title
    Toccata in C Major
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  9. 9 I. Aire de Danza (Dance Air) 02:15
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Aire de Danza (Dance Air)
    Duration
    02:15
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  10. 10 II. Tiempo de valse (Waltz Time) 01:15
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Tiempo de valse (Waltz Time)
    Duration
    01:15
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  11. 11 III. Cancion de cuna (Lullaby) 02:35
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Cancion de cuna (Lullaby)
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  12. 12 IV. El Sr. de la peluca (The gentleman with the wig) 01:01
    Track
    12
    Title
    IV. El Sr. de la peluca (The gentleman with the wig)
    Duration
    01:01
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  13. 13 V. El clavencin (The harpsichord) 01:17
    Track
    13
    Title
    V. El clavencin (The harpsichord)
    Duration
    01:17
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  14. 14 VI. Preludio (Prelude) 01:29
    Track
    14
    Title
    VI. Preludio (Prelude)
    Duration
    01:29
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  15. 15 VI. Fuga (Fugue) 01:42
    Track
    15
    Title
    VI. Fuga (Fugue)
    Duration
    01:42
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  16. 16 I. El amolador (The Knife Grinder) 02:18
    Track
    16
    Title
    I. El amolador (The Knife Grinder)
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  17. 17 II. La cuna (The cradle) 02:09
    Track
    17
    Title
    II. La cuna (The cradle)
    Duration
    02:09
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  18. 18 III. Los pajaros (The birds) 01:30
    Track
    18
    Title
    III. Los pajaros (The birds)
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  19. 19 No. 1. La muchacha de la herreria (The girl from the blacksmith's) 01:46
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 1. La muchacha de la herreria (The girl from the blacksmith's)
    Duration
    01:46
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  20. 20 No. 2. El herreo (The blacksmith) 01:25
    Track
    20
    Title
    No. 2. El herreo (The blacksmith)
    Duration
    01:25
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  21. 21 Playera 04:50
    Track
    21
    Title
    Playera
    Duration
    04:50
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  22. 22 La fuente 03:34
    Track
    22
    Title
    La fuente
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  23. 23 Serenata al estilo espanol 03:25
    Track
    23
    Title
    Serenata al estilo espanol
    Duration
    03:25
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  24. 24 Estudio di concierto 02:59
    Track
    24
    Title
    Estudio di concierto
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  25. 25 Estampas del Llano 09:05
    Track
    25
    Title
    Estampas del Llano
    Duration
    09:05
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez
  26. 26 Joropo 03:12
    Track
    26
    Title
    Joropo
    Duration
    03:12
    Composer
    Moisés Moleiro
    Performer
    Clara Rodriguez