LORENZO FERRERO
La Nueva España
Presagios
Memoria del Fuego
La Ruta de Cortés
El Encuentro
La Matanza del Templo Major
La Noche Triste
National Symphony Orchestra
of Ukraine
Takuo Yuasa
Recording made in April, 2000
Naxos 8.555044
[71:33]
Crotchet
Amazon UK
AmazonUS
The sleeve-note to this disc gives little information about the Italian composer
Lorenzo Ferrero other than that he was born in 1951, that he has had 'numerous
works performed at major festivals and institutions' and that he writes in
the 'so-called neo-Romantic style.'
La Nueva España is an ambitious work for large orchestra: a
six-movement set of symphonic poems, composed between 1991 and 1999, which
attempts to depict major episodes in the Spanish conquest of Mexico ('New
Spain') in the early sixteenth century. This event was, of course, no mere
conquest: it entailed the total destruction of Aztec civilisation. In a programme
note, the composer makes it clear that he seeks above all to illuminate the
tragic dimension of the story.
The arresting opening bars (with vivid, razor-sharp percussion, which is
an outstanding feature of the entire disc) raise expectations of a work of
considerable originality which in the event are largely unfulfilled. Ferrero
displays a firm grasp of structure and orchestration, and if the style is
indeed 'neo-Romantic' (there's not even a whiff of a single late 20th century
'ism'), there's no harm in that, so long as the resulting score matches the
intensity of his vision. This, in my view, it does not. Ferrari is at his
most convincing when portraying action (the climax of La Rita de
Curtés, for instance, which depicts the Spanish expedition across
the mountains and their arrival in Mexico) is stirring stuff; but the concluding
La Niche Trieste suggests mere pathos rather than tragedy: in vain
did I look for the quasi-Wagnerian sense of doom which the scenario demands.
Nevertheless this is in its way a colourful, impressive achievement, calling
to mind the work of the great post-war Hollywood composers of film music;
and on these terms, at any rate, the disc can be warmly recommended. Takuo
Yuasa's work with the BBC Scottish and Ulster Orchestras has recently gained
for him deserved acclaim in this country, and he conducts La Nueva
España with evident commitment, drawing a splendid response from
the excellent Ukraine orchestra. The recorded sound is consistently bright,
weighty and well-balanced.
Adrian Smith
Performance
Sound
