Xavier Montsalvatge - Piano Music, Vol. 1 (Jordi Masó)

Information

Composer: Xavier Montsalvatge

• 3 Impromptus
• Siciliana
• 3 Divertimentos
• Ritmos
• Elegia a Maurice Ravel
• Divagacion
• Sonatina para Yvette
• Sketch
• Recondita Armonia

Jordi Masó, piano

Granollers Chamber Orchestra

Francesc Guillén, conductor

Date: 2010

Label: Naxos

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Review

It is good to see the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge (1912–2002) receiving more recognition. Naxos is embarking on a Montsalvatge series (this is Volume 1 of the piano music); recordings date from 2008.

The early (1933, but not published until 2008) impromptus that open the disc are markedly French sounding. Jordi Masó’s own booklet notes rightly point out the influence of Debussy in the first and Satie in the second. The third is the epitome of charm, with Ravel possibly in the shadows. Masó’s readings are beautifully shaded. The recording (Jafre, Spain) is a little brittle and dry. A little more ambience would have benefited the intimacy of this music.

The Siciliana is actually part of a ballet (1940) that never made it to the stage. Fifty years later, the composer made this piano version. It is a charming piece, with an oriental-tinged melody. The full title of the Three Divertimentos of 1941 is Tres Divertimentos sobre temas de autores olvídados (Three Divertimentos on Themes by Forgotten Composers). The three pieces are a schottische, a habañera, and a waltz-jota, and the forgotten composers are the fact that the themes come from melodies so well known that nobody knows the original composers. The central habañera, marked Muy dulce, is a joy, especially in Masó’s beautiful performance.

Masó programs three short pieces in succession, Ritmes (1942), Elegia a Ravel (1945), and Divagación (1950). It is easy to hear why the composer held Ritmes in such high regard. It is delightful, and its sense of joy is infectious. The Elegia a Ravel is in fact a revision of the second of the impromptus, but revised so much it emerges as a new entity. It is beautifully shaped here by Masó, played with just the right amount of restraint. Divagación is a transcription for Alicia de Larrocha of an interlude from Montsalvatge’s first opera, El gato. It is charm personified, and scored for orchestra it must surely have fulfilled its function beautifully. Masó’s pure legato ensures its success in the piano reduction here.

The title of the popular Sonatine pour Yvette (1961) refers to the composer’s daughter, and there is a quotation of a popular children’s song, “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman,” in the final movement. The short Sketch seems rather inconsequential, despite its history of originating as part of a ballet in the manner of Les Six, then its appearance in the orchestral suite Calidoscopi simfonic.

Decidedly not inconsequential is the work for piano and string orchestra, Recóndita armonia of 1955. As the pianist Jordi Masó points out in his notes, this four-movement work is of decidedly concertante nature. The piano is an integral, vital part of the procedings. If there is dynamism evident in the opening bars, it is somewhat misleading, for the underlying feel here is lyrical, and much of this first movement is restrained, introspective even. True peace is found in the Andante sostenuto; a brief, light scherzo leads to a finale that seems to dwell more on sinewy counterpoint than the perhaps expected jubilation. It is an intriguing movement, and is a remarkably beautiful and thought-provoking way to close the work (this is its world premiere recording).

Fascinating repertoire. Do explore.

— Colin Clarke

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Xavier Montsalvatge (11 March 1912 – 7 May 2002) was a Spanish composer. Born in Girona, he studied at the Barcelona Conservatory with leading Catalan musicians. Although he began composing before the Spanish Civil War, most of his work came after 1940, blending early 20th-century modernist techniques with his own personal style. A versatile musician, he wrote across many genres and collaborated with renowned Spanish singers, including Victoria de los Ángeles and Montserrat Caballé. Widely honoured with national awards, Montsalvatge became one of Spain's most important composers of the 20th century.

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Jordi Masó (born 1967 in Granollers) is a Catalan pianist. Trained in Granollers, Barcelona and London, where he earned the Royal Academy of Music's highest distinction, he has won major competitions and performed across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Masó has premiered numerous contemporary works and built one of the most extensive Catalan piano discographies, recording over fifty albums, including complete piano cycles by Mompou, Turina, Gerhard and others. He teaches at ESMUC and the Granollers Conservatory, performs with the contemporary ensemble BCN 216, and is also an award-winning fiction writer.

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