La ciencia llega a España: Goyescas

[Todd]

#22

Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz manages to bring the overall work in at a slightly below average timing, though she never deviates too much from the mathematical averages for any movement.  At the same time, she exudes a sort of fluid, sporadically energetic and sporadically smoothed out and nearly lackadaisical sound.  There's an effortless feel, like she's just sort of playing whimsically.  Come the Fandango, Ortiz amps things up, displaying both rhythmic vitality and nifty dynamic contrasts, offering a shift from the two opening movements.  She expertly mixes styles, both languid and unabashedly impassioned, in El Amor y la Muerte, a closes out with a strongly characterized Epilogue. 

[Mandryka]

#22

Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz manages to bring the overall work in at a slightly below average timing, though she never deviates too much from the mathematical averages for any movement.  At the same time, she exudes a sort of fluid, sporadically energetic and sporadically smoothed out and nearly lackadaisical sound.  There's an effortless feel, like she's just sort of playing whimsically.  Come the Fandango, Ortiz amps things up, displaying both rhythmic vitality and nifty dynamic contrasts, offering a shift from the two opening movements.  She expertly mixes styles, both languid and unabashedly impassioned, in El Amor y la Muerte, a closes out with a strongly characterized Epilogue. 

Very good find @Todd .

[Todd]

Very good find @Todd .

Ms Ortiz is a fine pianist and the relatively few recordings I've heard from her fairly broad discography have all been good.  She has recorded for many labels, so she will likely never get a big box treatment.  She does have enough EMI recordings to warrant a small box.  Her Collins recordings appear destined for digital-only distribution from now until the end of time, but if they remain available, that's fine.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

#22

Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz manages to bring the overall work in at a slightly below average timing, though she never deviates too much from the mathematical averages for any movement.  At the same time, she exudes a sort of fluid, sporadically energetic and sporadically smoothed out and nearly lackadaisical sound.  There's an effortless feel, like she's just sort of playing whimsically.  Come the Fandango, Ortiz amps things up, displaying both rhythmic vitality and nifty dynamic contrasts, offering a shift from the two opening movements.  She expertly mixes styles, both languid and unabashedly impassioned, in El Amor y la Muerte, a closes out with a strongly characterized Epilogue. 

In Fandango and the introduction, her rhythm is like 3/4 rather than 6/8. Sounding classical/salon more than Andalusian. You just don't hear a sound of castanet in the music. Her performance is nice, but the likability of her approach may depend on listeners' preferences. Champaign piano, nice change.

[Todd]

#21

The marvelous Ms Melikyan, born in Armenian but a Spaniard since her teen years, brings her formidable chops to the work.  Her playing tends toward the nimble, very cleanly articulated, comparatively light most of the time.  While no slouch in the rhythm and color departments, she does not tickle the ear like the best of the best here.  She does impart ample drive to the Fandango and some deep, rich lower registers playing in El Amor y la Muerte, to go with some striking intensity and drama.  The Epilogue comes off relatively major in comparative terms, carrying almost as much weight as the preceding movement. 

[Mandryka]

In Fandango and the introduction, her rhythm is like 3/4 rather than 6/8. Sounding classical/salon more than Andalusian. You just don't hear a sound of castanet in the music. Her performance is nice, but the likability of her approach may depend on listeners' preferences. Champaign piano, nice change.

It is hard to get everything in this music - colours, intimacy, clarity of the voices etc. 

[Todd]

#20

Alicia de Larrocha's first of four appearances comes in the form of her fourth and final studio recording from 1989.  It boasts reasonably high end recorded sound and benefits from decades of performance experience with the piece.  Despite being her last recording of the work, made when she was in her late 60s, it is not the slowest – that distinction goes to her first recording for Decca from the mid-50s.  What one gets here then is a performance that while about a minute faster than average sounds entirely relaxed.  Nothing sounds rushed, nothing sounds too intense.  That is partly due to the fact that maximum dynamic contrasts are not as pronounced as other versions, and forte playing lacks the punch of others.  Larrocha's rhythmic command is absolute, but it doesn't manifest itself in speedy, snappy playing all the time, no sir.  She varies it, sometimes almost continuously, and her rubato is fluid if less pronounced in some of her earlier efforts.  There are no hard edges, no truly biting sforzandi, no lack of attractiveness throughout.  The Fandango basically sounds irresistible, as one would expect, but El Amor y la Muerte, while dramatic, lacks the ultimate oomph or tragic forlornness of other takes.  It's still none too shabby, though. 

[Todd]

#19

New to me Alex Alguacil is a Spanish pianist young enough so that he really ought to have a better website.  With his comparative youth comes the advantage of breaking the decades-long curse of Spanish pianists not being recorded well.  That swell recording helps out.  Alguacil opts to start with a slow, languid Los requiebros, but one where be brings the tonal beauty and a host of other neat tricks.  Playing with multiple simultaneous dynamic levels, sometimes with both altering at once, is one such trick.  Extreme clarity mixed up with seductive legato is another.  Clear voicing is another.  These traits permeate the work, which has an easy undulating and lyrical quality everywhere.  His combination of traits ends up making Quejas, o La Maja y el ruiseñor sound very Albénizian, which cannot be counted a bad thing.  El Amor y la Muerte has drama and beefy low registers, which always works, and some of the playing evokes Bachian organ music, which also cannot be counted a bad thing.  The Epilogue keeps in line with the rest of the stronger than expected take.  Full disclosure: I had no expectations going in. 

[Todd]

#18

Javier Negrin starts off his take with a comparatively light sounding, right hand dominated Los requiebros, almost as if he wants to  portray the piece as a long, unaccompanied song.  The varied simultaneous dynamics in some passages, clearly emphasizing the melody, really work well.  Negrin's style becomes almost salonish in Coloquio en la reja, so well calibrated and often "small" sounding the playing.  Observation only.  It works splendidly.  The Fandango, the quickest in the group, is snappy and light and dancy and damned if I don't detect whiffs o' Soler in there.  Nice!  The slow and at times gossamer light playing in Quejas, o La Maja y el ruiseñor sounds all yummy.  One could reasonably expect a light take to yield a sub-optimal El Amor y la Muerte, and so it goes, but the tradeoff in terms of clarity offsets some of the listening woe.  The Epilogue has a sense of resignation and some nifty strumming effects peppered throughout to end strongly.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

#19

New to me Alex Alguacil is a Spanish pianist young enough so that he really ought to have a better website.  With his comparative youth comes the advantage of breaking the decades-long curse of Spanish pianists not being recorded well.  That swell recording helps out.  Alguacil opts to start with a slow, languid Los requiebros, but one where be brings the tonal beauty and a host of other neat tricks.  Playing with multiple simultaneous dynamic levels, sometimes with both altering at once, is one such trick.  Extreme clarity mixed up with seductive legato is another.  Clear voicing is another.  These traits permeate the work, which has an easy undulating and lyrical quality everywhere.  His combination of traits ends up making Quejas, o La Maja y el ruiseñor sound very Albénizian, which cannot be counted a bad thing.  El Amor y la Muerte has drama and beefy low registers, which always works, and some of the playing evokes Bachian organ music, which also cannot be counted a bad thing.  The Epilogue keeps in line with the rest of the stronger than expected take.  Full disclosure: I had no expectations going in. 

Nice performance with fine interpretation.

[Todd]

#17

Among pianists who conjure massive sonorities, including Prats and Pueyo, none are more massive than Garrick Ohlsson's.  Beyond huge sound, he deploys limitless technique to add almost ridiculous levels of suppleness to some of his playing.  He will go from an imposing, towering sound to delicate and dainty on a dime, and it feels right and sounds swell.  In pretty much every Ohlsson recording I have heard, he comes across as a virtuoso always just humming along, capable of ripping through the music at thrice the speed without effort, or conversely of stretching it out to the Nth degree while not breaking the line, and that is true here.  The bigger, slower movements sound romantic and passionate, but also languid and loose.  They sound slower than their timings suggest, which is always nice, because that means Ohlsson leaves the listener wanting more.  The shorter, swifter movements basically go the other way, sounding slower than they are, and the whole work, atmospheric and fully engaged, manages to be on the quick side while always sounding at ease.  Overall, no little satisfaction can be derived from this set.

[Brian]

It's kind of remarkable that even by #20 we were in the realm of really good-sounding performances with enticing descriptions. I guess this is a work where we're truly spoiled for choice.

[Todd]

It's kind of remarkable that even by #20 we were in the realm of really good-sounding performances with enticing descriptions. I guess this is a work where we're truly spoiled for choice.

Positions 8-12 were tough to place given the uniformly very high quality.  One pianist I was certain would be in the top ten going in ended up not making the cut.

And I didn't listen to even half the available recordings . . .

[Mandryka]

It's kind of remarkable that even by #20 we were in the realm of really good-sounding performances with enticing descriptions. I guess this is a work where we're truly spoiled for choice.

I feel the opposite. I think most of the performances I hear are really unsatisfying. Some of them intolerable in fact -- f.e. Luisada.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

What kind of scale does the number indicate? Favorability for Todd in an inverse scale?

[Brian]

What kind of scale does the number indicate? Favorability for Todd in an inverse scale?

Yes.

I feel the opposite. I think most of the performances I hear are really unsatisfying. Some of them intolerable in fact -- f.e. Luisada.

I'm reading with interest because actually the only performance so far that has really 'clicked' for me is the Jorge Luis Prats live recital. I'm hoping it ranks high and Todd's description clues me in to other, similar artists whose approaches I'd also like. The recording I grew up on was the #20 digital Larrocha and the only one I've bought since I think is #25 Heisser in his Spanish box set.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Yes.
I'm reading with interest because actually the only performance so far that has really 'clicked' for me is the Jorge Luis Prats live recital. I'm hoping it ranks high and Todd's description clues me in to other, similar artists whose approaches I'd also like. The recording I grew up on was the #20 digital Larrocha and the only one I've bought since I think is #25 Heisser in his Spanish box set.

I wish he had started with number one.

[Todd]

I'm hoping it ranks high

You know for sure that it ranks higher than #17.

[Todd]

#16

Eduardo del Pueyo's old mono recording, as remastered, sounds so good and so big that stereo is not needed.  This is a big mono recording, and that becomes clear quickly.  Pueyo starts off Los requiebros in a robust manner, one that mixes weight, potency, and flexibility.  It never sounds heavy or stodgy, and when he cranks up the volume, the sound sounds weightier, with no edge, and quite remarkably, the apparent dynamic range here exceeds some stereo recordings.  While his playing does not sound as subtle as some others, the tradeoff is that it sounds masculine, meaning direct and bold, yet the pianist is no brute.  He also not too studied or too obsessed with details; there's an almost improvisatory, one take (or minimum take) feel, and his subtle vocalizing adds to the feel.  As he backs off in the gentlest passages of Coloquio en la reja, there's delicacy, though there's also tape saturation in the loudest passages, hinting at mixing desk fiddling.  (That's OK.)  The weighty playing in the Fandango gives it an earthy/rustic feel, meaning just a bit rough around the edges but idiomatic.  Pueyo delivers one of the swiftest takes on El Amor y la Muerte, which here sounds almost punched out to start, so potent is the bass, and it has a passionate energy throughout.  And wouldn't you know it, the Epilogue sounds like a serenade much of the time, albeit a punchy one. 

[Mandryka]

#16

Eduardo del Pueyo's old mono recording, as remastered, sounds so good and so big that stereo is not needed.  This is a big mono recording, and that becomes clear quickly.  Pueyo starts off Los requiebros in a robust manner, one that mixes weight, potency, and flexibility.  It never sounds heavy or stodgy, and when he cranks up the volume, the sound sounds weightier, with no edge, and quite remarkably, the apparent dynamic range here exceeds some stereo recordings.  While his playing does not sound as subtle as some others, the tradeoff is that it sounds masculine, meaning direct and bold, yet the pianist is no brute.  He also not too studied or too obsessed with details; there's an almost improvisatory, one take (or minimum take) feel, and his subtle vocalizing adds to the feel.  As he backs off in the gentlest passages of Coloquio en la reja, there's delicacy, though there's also tape saturation in the loudest passages, hinting at mixing desk fiddling.  (That's OK.)  The weighty playing in the Fandango gives it an earthy/rustic feel, meaning just a bit rough around the edges but idiomatic.  Pueyo delivers one of the swiftest takes on El Amor y la Muerte, which here sounds almost punched out to start, so potent is the bass, and it has a passionate energy throughout.  And wouldn't you know it, the Epilogue sounds like a serenade much of the time, albeit a punchy one. 

Two off topic posts, I hope you don't mind. If you do, just say and I'll delete it.

1. I think del Pueyo's Danzas Españolas are at least as good as his Goyescas.

2. Your conception of "masculine" in this context - I would use it to describe Morten Zeuthen's Bach, which I've been listening to this evening. Recommended.