Enrique Granados - Escenas románticas; Bocetos; Cuentos de la juventud (Alicia de Larrocha)

Information

Composer: Enrique Granados

• Escenas románticas
• Bocetos
• Cuentos de la juventud

Alicia de Larrocha, piano

Date: 2003

Label: RCA

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Review

If Goyescas represents the public, theatrical side of Granados’ temperament, the six Escenas Románticas are relatively personal and inward. Though less well-known, the Bocetos and Cuentos de la juventud (the latter might be described as Granados’ answer to Schumann’s Kinderszenen) surely will attract those who respond to this composer’s vivacious romanticism and smoky range of colors. Who knows why these 1994 recordings took nine years to see the light of day; still, better now than never.

Praising Alicia de Larrocha in this repertoire is tantamount to giving fresh air a good review. At 71, her lush, cantabile style and multi-tiered articulation are just about as intact as in her previous recorded Escenas Románticas forays. Listen to the Allegretto’s deliciously differentiated imitative writing, the broad, organic rubatos that heighten the Allegro Appassionato’s lava-like expressive qualities, or to the elegant understatement the pianist breathes into each of the Cuentos de la juventud. Not that she lacks rhythmic verve when needed, as the concluding “Marcha” proves, with its unwitting allusions to Schubert’s F minor Moment Musical.

Picky Larrocha fans might argue that the pianist had lost a modicum of her erstwhile dynamic range and fire by the late-’80s/early-’90s (her 1985 Escenas Románticas on Decca are just a little more incisive). RCA’s warmer engineering, however, wins me over in the long run, together with Harris Goldsmith’s superb booklet notes.

— Jed Distler

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Enrique Granados (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916) was a Spanish composer and pianist from Catalonia. A student of Felipe Pedrell, he rose to prominence with his Danzas españolas and soon established himself as one of Spain's foremost pianists. In addition to his celebrated piano works, Granados also composed several operas and founded a piano academy in Barcelona. Deeply influenced by 18th-century and Spanish artistic traditions, he created the renowned Goyescas, inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya. Granados's life ended tragically when the Sussex was torpedoed during his return voyage from New York.

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Alicia de Larrocha (23 May 1923 – 25 September 2009) was a Spanish pianist, considered as one of the 20th century's greatest piano legends. Born in Barcelona, she began piano studies at age three with Frank Marshall. She debuted at six at the 1929 Seville World's Fair and performed with an orchestra by eleven. By the 1940s, she was a major concert attraction in Spain and soon toured internationally, including North America and Southern Africa. Famed for her interpretations of Spanish composers such as Albéniz, Granados, de Falla and Mompou, she received multiple awards for her extensive recordings.

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