Francisco Mignone - Piano Music (Martin Jones)

Information

Composer: Francisco Mignone

1. Lenda sertaneja, No. 8 (Version for Piano)
2. Cucumbizinho
3. Valse élégante
4. Sonatina No. 1: I. Andante moderato
5. Sonatina No. 1: II. Allegro moderato
6. Lenda sertaneja, No. 6 (Version for Piano)
7. Serenada Humorística
8. Congada
9. Sonatina No. 2: I. Muito simples
10. Sonatina No. 2: II. Allegro ma non troppo
11. Lenda sertaneja, No. 4 (Version for Piano)
12. Tango
13. Quartro peças Brasileiras: I. Moroco
14. Quartro peças Brasileiras: II. Maxixando
15. Quartro peças Brasileiras: III. Nazareth
16. Quartro peças Brasileiras: IV. Toada
17. Sonatina No. 3: I. Andantino - Vivo
18. Sonatina No. 3: II. Allegretto - Allegro
19. Valsa de esquina, No. 1
20. Paulistana
21. Sonatina No. 4: I. Alleretto non troppo
22. Sonatina No. 4: II. Allegro con umore
23. 12 Valsas de Esquina: No. 12, Valsa em Fa menor

Martin Jones, piano

Date: 2023

Label: Nimbus Records

https://www.wyastone.co.uk/piano-music-of-francisco-mignone.html

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Review

In his early twenties, Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) left his native Brazil to study in Milan. He spent nearly a decade in Italy and also Spain, and listening to his orchestral music – his Festa das igrejas (1940), say, or Maracatu de Chico Rei (1933) – one is tempted to label him a Brazilian Respighi. His piano music remains closer to home, however, hewing closer to the folkloric style of his younger Argentinian contemporaries Guastavino (whose complete piano music Martin Jones recorded in 2008) and Ginastera.

Jones focuses on Mignone’s works from the 1930s and ’40s, generally avoiding the more modernist- or Impressionist-influenced pieces like the Transcendental études that Clélia Iruzun includes on her Mignone recital (Lorelt, 11/07). Indeed, there’s not much overlap between the two programmes. In general, Jones tends to avoid flashy pieces such as the Dança do Botocudo Iruzun offers, and when Jones and Iruzun do play the same music, the interpretative distinctions are clear. Reviewing Iruzun’s disc, Guy Rickards praised her lightness of touch as being ‘near ideal’, and he’s not wrong. Jones’s touch is lighter still, his tempos more relaxed, the result as charming as it is elegant.

Jones includes a few salon-like pieces, including the Valse élégante and Nazarethesque Tango (both from 1931), three of the 10 gorgeously melancholy Lendas sertanejas (‘Rustic Legends’), the first and last of the spare, lilting Valsas de esquina (‘Street Corner Waltzes’) and the four sonatinas. Paulistana (a miniature portrait of the people of São Paulo from 1942) is the longest work on the programme, and in the bright, bustling energy of its outer sections, it’s perhaps the most assertive music, too. Yet it’s the hushed central section that makes the strongest impression, especially as Jones’s pearlescent pianissimo casts such a heady spell (listen starting around 2'54").

As usual, Nimbus’s aural perspective puts quite a lot of air around Jones’s piano, which is highly effective in this case where the emphasis is on atmosphere rather than brilliance. Warmly recommended.

-- Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://musicwebinternational.com/2023/07/mignone-piano-music-nimbus/

https://www.allmusic.com/album/piano-music-of-francisco-mignone-mw0003962223

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Francisco Mignone (September 3, 1897, São Paulo – February 19, 1986, Rio de Janeiro) was one of the most significant figures in Brazilian classical music, and one of the most significant Brazilian composers after Heitor Villa-Lobos. A graduate of the São Paulo Conservatory and the Milan Conservatory, Mignone was a versatile composer, dividing his output nearly evenly between solo songs, piano pieces, chamber instrumental, orchestral, and choral works. In addition, he wrote five operas and eight ballets. Much of Mignone's music is strongly nationalistic in flavor, and is noted for its lyricism and colorful instrumentation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Mignone

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Martin Jones (born 4 February 1940 in Witney, England) is an English concert pianist. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and has been highly regarded since debuting in the international arena when he won the Dame Myra Hess Award in 1968. Jones has performed with various orchestras throughout the world, including the London Festival Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He was pianist-in-residence at University College, Cardiff, from 1971 to 1983. Jones is a prolific recording artist on the Nimbus Records label.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Jones_(pianist)

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