To complement their
de Falla series Naxos have issued this
disc of music by a lesser known Spanish
composer. Halffter was born in Madrid
and later moved to Mexico. He lived
at a time when Europe’s experimental
new forms of composition were at their
peak. As a self-taught composer he had
leanings towards de Falla (and Schoenberg
probably), but The Three Cornered
Hat couldn’t be further from my
mind whilst listening to this disc.
The
CD notes, which are in English, Spanish
and German, describe Hafftner as evolving
a style of: ‘clear-cut rhythmic and
tonal contrast enlivened by off-beat
accents recalling Stravinsky ... and
inflections after Milhaud.’
To me much of the music
is ‘triangular’, without any reference
to a Three Cornered Hat. I find
the thematic material scant. It shows
no clear development with sections bolted
together. Perhaps this is music more
reminiscent of a cartoon soundtrack
which only has proper meaning when accompanied
by visuals. In fact the ballets may
well be completely in place when heard
in the context of the stage performances
for which they were intended. Without
a visual stimulus I find the material
difficult to enjoy. The booklet surprisingly
gives little clue to the nature of the
plots of the two ballets within its
meagre two page spread on the composer
and his works. The additional pieces
found on the disc were never related
to visual material and are consequently
even less assimilated.
The percussive opening
piece, Paquiliztli would seem
better placed as a later track as most
of the others are better suited to serve
as an opening track to ‘set the scene’.
The small orchestra performs admirably,
but the texture is thin by lack of integration
of the instrumental sections in the
compositions. This may well be deliberate,
but sadly it gives little for the listener
to get enthused over.
Raymond Walker
Orchestra of the Communidad de Madrid/José
Ramón Encinar 
