Enrique Granados - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Pablo González)

Information

Composer: Enrique Granados

• Goyescas: Intermezzo
• Danza de los ojos verdes (Dance of the green eyes)
• Danza gitana (Gypsy Dance)
• La nit del mort (Night of the dead man)
• Dante - Symphonic Poem

Gemma Coma-Alabert, mezzo-soprano

Jesús Álvarez Carrión, tenor

Lieder Càmera

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra

Pablo González, conductor

Date: 2016

Label: Naxos

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Review

Naxos’s centenary survey of Granados’s orchestral music continues with a second disc from the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under Pablo González, and like the first (5/16) it contains several premiere recordings – three, in fact. The most substantial is a symphonic poem dating from 1897, La nit del mort, to which Granados gave the forbidding subtitle ‘poem of desolation’. Well, it sounds like a rather enjoyable desolation: a subtle, Impressionistic world straight out of César Franck or early Debussy. If we don’t hear this 10 minute piece more often it’s probably because six minutes in, after a tenor solo from Death himself (with eerie pizzicato and a snaking bass clarinet), it launches into a foursquare chorus on the Spanish equivalent of ‘Dulce et decorum’.

But that first section shows González and his orchestra at their best, with grainy strings, piquant soft-edged woodwinds and a natural, musicianly way of shaping a phrase. Those qualities are all in evidence in two short gypsy dances and the familiar Goyescas Intermezzo; the slightly hazy Naxos sound complements performances that are affectionate and characterful but which, in the last analysis, smoulder rather than blaze.

That’s particularly the case with the largest work on the disc, the two-movement, 34-minute symphonic poem Dante. Apparently contemporaries compared it favourably to Elgar’s First. I wouldn’t go quite that far – the ideas aren’t strong enough and the Tristan influences aren’t fully assimilated – but it’s lush, atmospheric and, in its own way, haunting. González’s expansive performance has stiff competition from Adrian Leaper’s altogether more lustrous Gran Canaria Philharmonic on ASV, though the mezzo Gemma Coma-Alabert makes an affecting Francesca da Rimini. Nonetheless, a welcome addition to the still surprisingly patchy Granados discography.

— Richard Bratby

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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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Pablo González (born 1975 in Oviedo) is a Spanish conductor. A graduate of London's Guildhall School, he gained recognition after winning the Donatella Flick and Cadaqués competitions. Known for his interpretations of 19th-century Russian and German repertoire, he is also celebrated for his commitment to Spanish composers. He has served as Music Director of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (2010–2015) and Principal Conductor of the RTVE Symphony Orchestra (2019–2023). In Barcelona, he led acclaimed Mahler and Schumann cycles, toured Europe, and recorded works by Granados and Bizet.

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