Alicia de Larrocha - Granados: Escenas Románticas; Bocetos; Cuentos de la Juventud

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Music reviews of Granados: Escenas Románticas; Bocetos; Cuentos de la Juventud

Music Review: Unknown Granados
Rating: 4 Stars

Bocetos (Sketches) are a set of short intimate studies. They are titled: The Hunter's Call, The Fairy and the Child, Very Slow Waltz and The Afternoon Bell. The pieces are highly descriptive and vary in expression. The Hunter's Call is jocular, the Fairy and the Child reminded me of Debussy in the quicksilver writing, the Waltz is close enough to Chopin to be mistaken for one of his works. The Afternoon Bell has a bucolic feel, describing a lovely landscape.

The final suite is Cuentos de la juventud (Stories of Youth) and consists of ten short pieces, the longest lasting two and a half minutes. The pieces are named: Dedication, The Beggar Woman, May Song, Old Tale, Coming From the Fountain, Memories from Infancy, The Ghost, The Orphan Girl and March. I found the first piece, Dedication, sounding like an extension of The Afternoon Bell. The Beggar Woman has an interesting trio section that seems to describe the activities of the titled woman. The Ghost is fun to listen to and would probably accompany a comedy more than a scary scene with a ghost. The March is, as one might expect, the liveliest piece in the collection. It also has something of a Spanish feel to it and, for me, was more characteristic of Granados' more familiar works. Taken together the pieces are pleasant miniatures that are evocative of their titles.

Alicia de Larrocha plays with great beauty and phrasing. Clearly, this is music close to her heart. Unfortunately, the disc times out at 52:26, which in these days of CDs playing up to 80 minutes is woefully short. I am wondering if there could not have been something additional (even reissuing something) that could have been placed on the disc. This is an interesting disc that reminds us that Granados had another side to his music but, because they often sound like other composers, it seems that the composer was seeking to imitate rather than create something original.

Description of Granados: Escenas Románticas; Bocetos; Cuentos de la Juventud

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