Joaquín RODRIGO (1901–1999)
Concierto de Aranjuez
(1939) [21:02]
Manuel PONCE (1882–1948)
Concierto del sur
(1941) [25:05]
Gerald GARCIA (b.1949)
China Sings!
(version for guitar and orchestra) (2013, arr. 2019) World Premiere
Recording [11:28]
Junhong Kuang (guitar)
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice/Darrell Ang
rec. 26–29 August 2019, Dukla House of Culture, Pardubice, Czech Republic.
DDD
NAXOS 8.579053
[57:39]
Within days of my submitting a
review of a recording of the Concierto de Aranjuez with a Chinese soloist, a very decent
account, coupled with the Fantasía para un Gentilhombre, but not a
world-beater (IBS Classics IBS42020, Xianji Liu (guitar), Orquesta
Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española/Pedro Amaral), along comes … a
recording of the Concierto de Aranajuez with a Chinese guitarist
and
the conductor of a Chinese orchestra, here directing a Czech orchestra.
Like the IBS recording, this too offers rather short value, but at least
the Naxos price compensates, especially if you choose to download in
lossless sound for around £5.50. Subscribers to
Naxos Music Library
can stream it there, with the pdf booklet. The IBS recording can also be
streamed
there. (I’m amazed to see one dealer asking £9.63 for this Naxos CD
- and £14.54 for a used copy! When did used CDs become more valuable
than new?)
The Naxos Concierto de Aranjuez receives a sympathetic performance from
soloist, orchestra and conductor and the recording is equally good, but
there’s nothing that I can point to that is really special enough to
displace my reaching for Narciso Yepes or a score of other very fine
recordings next time that I want to hear the work. Yepes, in particular,
with the Philharmonia Orchestra and García Navarro, comes in a variety of
formats to suit all needs: remastered for SACD as if brand new by Pentatone
(PTC5186209, with Fantasía and Concierto madrigal –
review), or on a budget 2-for-1 collection of six Rodrigo concertos on DG Duo
(4779999). At this late date, there’s very little room for surprising
re-interpretations of Aranjuez.
There are, however, other reasons for considering the new Naxos recording.
The Ponce concerto is not as overworked or over-recorded as Aranjuez, or its coupling on IBS, the Fantasía. It’s an
attractive work, past recordings of which include a definitive performance from
Andrès Segovia with the Symphony of the Air and Enrique Jordá (Naxos
Classical Archive 980916, with Rodrigo Fantasía, download only, or
Alto ALC1395, same coupling plus some shorter pieces). That recording,
reviewed
on Alto by Rob Barnett in 2018, is my benchmark for the Ponce – Segovia was
the work’s dedicatee.
RB noted a few surface noises on the Alto version of the Ponce, derived
from the LP transfer, so purists may prefer the DG reissue from the master tapes,
which costs very little more. The Originals single CD release, with the
Rodrigo Fantasía and Cassadó’s Boccherini-pastiche concerto
(4744272) can be streamed from
Naxos Music Library; on CD the twofer The Art of Segovia is better value (4716972).
Either way, the 1950s sound has transferred remarkably well.
Segovia and Jordá make the Ponce very appealing, and that’s the version to
go for. The Originals single CD is only a very little more expensive than
the Naxos, on disc or as a download, but the new Naxos performance is also
very appealing. The label has done very well by Ponce’s music, and this is
no exception. The tempos are almost identical to Segovia’s – I’d be very
surprised if the performers had not listened to the older recording – and
there’s real life in this interpretation. It’s not a work that I had heard
often before, but I shall do so more in future, from this or the Segovia
recording.
It all comes down, then, to the final piece on Naxos, a concerto based on
two popular Chinese themes by, surprisingly, a composer with an
Oxford degree in chemistry. It’s played here by the performer who was its
dedicatee in its original 2013 format as a concerto for guitar and guitar
orchestra.
Despite its title and its use of Chinese themes, China Sings!
opens with a distinct hint of the English pastoral tradition; it’s only
when the guitar enters, sounding like a traditional Chinese instrument,
that the blend of the two traditions is apparent. I shall certainly be
returning to this music; the two different strands may remain distinct, but
that doesn’t prevent the music from being ultimately a more convincing
amalgam than the beautiful but ubiquitous Butterfy Lovers
concerto, of which Naxos can offer many different versions.
Naxos have already made several recordings with Gerald Garcia as guitar
soloist – I must explore those – and at least one as composer. He has
recorded his own arrangements of Chinese music for guitar and violin with
Takako Nishizaki for Naxos’ sister label Marco Polo (8.225837). Listening
to that via
Naxos Music Library
suggests that it’s a good place to begin. Nishizaki is the wife of Klaus
Heymann, the boss of Marco Polo and Naxos, but all her recordings for both
labels, including at least four of the Butterfly Lovers, warrant
genuine consideration for their own merit.
Meanwhile, though there may be better ways to hear the Rodrigo and Ponce,
the new recordings of both are good enough for the new Naxos to be well
worth considering, and the Garcia concerto, short as it is, is attractive
enough to clinch the deal. The Naxos recording is good and the notes are
informative, if a little on the skimpy side.
Brian Wilson
