Naxos has a number
of series under way, of which this is
belongs to their Spanish Classics line.
They have been building up quite an
extensive collection of discs, concentrating
on out of the way repertoire by out
of the way composers. This is no exception,
concentrating on the Cuban composer
Julian Orbon who although not strictly
Spanish, was at least born in Spain
in 1925, and moved to Cuba at the age
of 15, where he stayed for a significant
portion of his life. He was involved
with the Castro revolution but being
at odds with the ethical and religious
beliefs of the regime, eventually moved
to Mexico in 1960, where he taught at
the National Conservatory.
This disc brings together
three of Orbon’s major works. They make
very pleasant listening on this new
recording. Orbon’s music is decidedly
tonal in nature and is a little reminiscent
of watered down Copland with a Spanish
idiom.
The Three Symphonic
Versions was first performed in 1954
by the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Juan Jose Castro. The first
movement, Pavana is Coplandesque built
on two main themes: the first, takes
its inspiration from a pavane by Luis
de Milan, a 16th century
Spanish composer. The second theme,
on cello, introduces us to the insistent
Cuban rhythmic sound picture. The second
movement, Conductos, is inspired by
the music of the Mediaeval French composer,
Perotin, and the last movement, Xylophone,
is based on Congolese rhythmic ostinato,
embellished to add orchestral colour
to the African base.
The Symphonic Dances
were premiered by Heitor Villa-Lobos
in 1957 in Miami, played by the Miami
University Orchestra. These brilliant
dances typify Orbon’s gradual move towards
a more Latin-American atmosphere. The
first dance, Obertura is repetitive
but skilfully so. The second movement,
Gregoriana is a daring allegro, based
upon plainsong melodies. The third movement,
Declamatoria is a slow dance, and the
final movement, Danza Final, is Venezuelan
in character, orchestrated in glittering
colours.
The Concerto Grosso
is perhaps the most deeply felt work
on this disc, and was initially written
for string quartet and orchestra. It
was first performed in 1961. It is in
the traditional three movements the
first being Moderato where the burden
is taken first by the orchestra and
then by the quartet. The second movement,
lento, is one of Orbon’s loveliest creations
heavy with religious overtones. The
final allegro contains parts of themes
used in the earlier movements.
Throughout the disc
the playing is highly accurate with
the rhythms well defined and the colours
in the writing portrayed well by the
orchestra. That said, that the Asturias
Orchestra could have done with a few
more run-throughs to capture some abandon
in their playing which I am sure would
improve these performances.
The orchestra, at times,
seems somewhat tentative. A little more
spontaneity would have improved matters
immensely. Still, we are unlikely to
have competitive versions coming along,
and so if you like this repertoire,
don’t hesitate.
John Phillips
See
also review by Hubert Culot
This disc was selected as Bargain
Discovery of the Month in
January
Asturias Symphony Orchestra/Maximiano Valdes.