Having just recently
given a big thumbs up in these columns
to the EMI GROC re-issue of Alicia de
Larrocha�s first recording of Goyescas
from the early 1960s, it is fascinating
to compare this new recording from the
late Joyce Hatto. She has been much
praised in a wide variety of repertoire,
not least here on MusicWeb International,
so I was very keen to hear what all
the excitement was about.
I noticed with interest
in a recent MusicWeb review of her Mozart
sonatas that Hatto - not one to gush
� is quoted as having real respect for
Larrocha�s playing. I made the point,
in my previous review, that the earlier
EMI version had tremendous fire and
a passionate virtuosity, whereas Larrocha�s
later Decca recording was slightly more
measured and introspective, though no
less enjoyable. Hatto�s playing matches
that later Larrocha version in many
ways. Almost every piece is just a shade
slower than Larrocha on EMI, but where
any fire and brimstone is lost there
is a gain in poetry and warmth.
She chooses to open
the disc with the high jinx of El
Pelele, rather than make it an encore
as others, including Rubinstein and
Larrocha, have done. I think it actually
works better as a curtain-raiser, especially
in Hatto�s exuberant, joyous reading.
The liner-note writer, MusicWeb�s own
Jonathan Woolf, rightly identifies the
mournful, contrary motion start to Quejas
ola maja y el ruiseñor as
redolent of Chopin. Being a renowned
interpreter of the Polish master, Hatto
makes the most of the sinewy chromatic
inflections that follow, turning the
piece into some ghostly Spanish nocturne.
She also controls the many tricky tempo
markings with complete naturalness,
her rubato emerging as conversation-like
and unforced. Hatto is marginally less
imperious than the young Larrocha in
the unison, almost Lisztian flourish
which opens El amor y la muerte,
the piece Bryce Morrison identifies
as the spiritual heart of Goyescas,
but she is more poetic in the glorious
adagio section (from 6:03). She
also makes more of the wispy quotes
from other pieces in the set, most notably
at 10:02, where Los requiebros
is fleetingly remembered. She is less
aggressive in the bell-like coda, where
Larrocha�s brighter, harder sound almost
conjures up the melancholic tintinnabulation
of Rachmaninov.
Having just mentioned
the lovely Los requiebros, possibly
my favourite piece of the whole set,
it�s worth mentioning that Hatto is
again a shade slower and shapes the
naggingly memorable central tune with
a touch more feeling. Larrocha has a
true Spaniard�s fire in her belly and
moves things on with more momentum,
and I guess here, as throughout, there
is easily room for both interpretations
as they complement each other nicely
in a Florestan/ Eusebius sort of way.
Hatto isn�t quite so overt in the many
guitar impersonations � such as the
strums at 2:25 of Epilogo, where
Larrocha really does try to make the
piano another instrument.
The Danzas and
Escenas are beautifully done,
my only quibble being a slightly different,
marginally drier perspective on the
earlier recording, at least to my ears.
In any case, the sound generally is
a vast improvement over the early Hispavox
recording for Larrocha, the steely hardness
of which is the one serious flaw to
that version. These glorious pieces
deserve more than one recording in your
collection, so whoever you have playing
them Joyce Hatto will sit very nicely
alongside.
Tony Haywood
Joyce Hatto (piano) 
