Goyescas, Spanish Dances and Other Works for Solo Piano

Rating:
Summary: Goyescas and more.
Review: This superb collection brings together some of Enrique Granados' most wonderful solo piano music. "Goyescas" is a sprawling suite of six pieces inspired by impressions of Goya's paintings. Its wild, sprawling textures are redolent of Rachmaninoff or Debussy, but with flamboyant and passionate Spanish temperament, wild and soaring melodies. They are deeply moving, enormously challenging to play, and richly rewarding for performer and listener alike.

Also in the collection are some of his early, delicate "Spanish Dances" as well as the "Escenas Poeticas" and "Escenas Romanticas." These are more reminiscent of the character pieces of Schumann or Grieg, but imbued with Granados' unique harmonic flavors and temperament.

Wonderful music, in a definitive edition, reprinted by Dover "for a song," this volume is a treasure for lovers of great piano music.

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