Federico Mompou - Spanish Songs & Dances (Alicia de Larrocha)

Information

Composer: Federico Mompou

1. Cançons i Danses No. 1
2. Cançons i Danses No. 2
3. Cançons i Danses No. 3
4. Cançons i Danses No. 4
5. Cançons i Danses No. 5
6. Cançons i Danses No. 6
7. Cançons i Danses No. 7
8. Cançons i Danses No. 8
9. Cançons i Danses No. 9
10. Cançons i Danses No. 10
11. Cançons i Danses No. 11
12. Cançons i Danses No. 12
13. Cançons i Danses No. 14
14. Prelude No. 11 (dedicated to Alicia de Larrocha)
15. Prelude No. 5
16. Prelude No. 6 (for the left hand)
17. Prelude No. 7 "Fireworks"

Alicia de Larrocha, piano

Date: 1994

Label: RCA

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Review

For the benefit of those who may not know the elegantly salon-like series of 13 Songs and dances (plus one for guitar, not included here), composition of which was spread out over more than 40 years, let me say that with only very few exceptions each consists of a coupling of two traditional Catalan melodies, freely arranged with artfully expressive harmonies. (RCA confuse the trail a little by identifying the tunes by their first words rather than their titles—e.g. ''Dotze cavallers'' instead of ''La senyora Isabel'' for No. 2; and the Dance of No. 9 is classified as original Mompou whereas it is surely ''El barretinaire''?) The earlier pieces, from the 1920s, reveal influences of the Parisian composers with whom Mompou was friendly (the piled-up fourths of No. 3 unmistakably point to Milhaud), but the idiom becomes rather more personal later (and No. 6, which is entirely original, goes to Latin America for its inspiration). More individual than this series, however, are the Preludes: No. 6, the longest piece here, is somewhat Scriabinesque (apart from the similarity of its being for the left hand alone) and No. 7 by far the most impressionist and virtuosic.

As one who knew Mompou well and was the dedicatee of some of his pieces (including the Prelude No. 11—sometimes erroneously listed as No. 7—which was written as a wedding present for her in 1949), Alicia de Larrocha is in an almost unique position as an interpreter of his music, of which she again shows herself here a splendid champion. Being the artist she is, and like the best artists not content simply to repeat a previous interpretation without further thought, she offers readings noticeably different from her now nearly ten-year-old Decca performances of some of the Songs and dances. For the most part she adopts somewhat faster speeds, and as compared with the composer's own performances, recorded for the Musical Heritage Society, her approach is more direct, with more cohesive phrasing and without his habit (which becomes increasingly tiresome) of playing left-hand-before-right on almost every chord. In general she brings more vivacity to the Dance sections—markedly so in Nos. 7 and 8, though she is quieter and gentler in No. 10; she takes the 6/8 section of No. 4 with a charming lightness. Accentuation is sometimes different, as in No. 1 and in the bell-sounds of No. 5; but a compelling feature throughout this disc is her subtle tonal gradations. Larrocha's performances and the warm, natural recorded piano sound are both in the highest class.

— Lionel Salter

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Federico Mompou (16 April 1893 – 30 June 1987) was a Catalan Spanish composer and pianist. Trained in Barcelona and later at the Paris Conservatory under Isidor Philipp, he absorbed influences from Satie and Debussy while developing a distinct style rooted in Catalan musical idioms. After gaining recognition in Paris, he returned to Barcelona in 1941 during World War II. Mompou's recordings of his works for the Spanish label Ensayo are noted for their sensitivity and elegance. His music is widely performed and recorded by such pianists as Arthur Rubinstein, Alicia de Larrocha, Stephen Hough and many others.

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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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