Estilo Español
Joaquín TURINA (1882-1949) Círculo, Op 91 (1936) [9:42]
Gaspar CASSADÓ (1897-1966) Piano Trio (1926/9) [18:28]
Enrique GRANADOS (1867-1916) Intermezzo from Goyescas
(1913) [4:37]
Enrique Fernández ÁRBOS (1863-1939) Tres Piezas Originales
en Estilo Español [19:23]
Devich Trio
rec. July 2010, FWL Studios, Leipzig, Germany
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72322 [52:10]
I’ve only just returned from a holiday to Barcelona and rather thankfully,
did not encounter anyone wearing the costume on the cover of this disc. Unfortunately,
I didn’t get to hear any classical music this good on my trip, either. The
closest I got was taking a photo of a street named after “Enric Granados”.
Enric Granados appears here, as one of four composers in an intriguing and
off-the-beaten-path program of Spanish works for piano trio. All are very
charmingly in the Spanish style, and all are played with brio and fire by
the Devich Trio.
The disc begins with Joaquín Turina’s Círculo, a roughly ten-minute
piece in three movements. Those who know Turina from his Sinfonia sevillana
or his buoyant, glittering piano works will be surprised by the dark expressiveness
of the first movement, aptly subtitled “Dawn” and dominated at first by a
searching cello solo. True to the title’s promise, though, the sun soon rises
and the whole trio bring the movement to a rousing close. “Mediodía (Noon)”
is quite clearly inspired by flamenco and other folk dances, and is a lot
of fun. The finale, “Dusk,” naturally winds down to a satisfying fadeout into
the night sky.
The next work is a piano trio by the Catalan cellist Gaspar Cassadó, an excellent
work full of Spanish color and great writing for all three instruments. But
it should not be written off as a collection of Spanishisms: this is a serious
trio, with a hefty, dramatic first movement that builds, thanks to the bold
playing of the Devich Trio, to a really massive climax at around 6:30. The
slow movement bears enigmatic Arabic influences, and the finale, opening with
a recitative in which violin and cello mimic Spanish spoken word, perhaps,
is especially striking. Cassadó also supplies an arrangement of Enrique Granados’
contribution, the intermezzo from his opera Goyescas. A fairly well-known
work, this, but a mere pleasing trifle compared to the sizzling pieces it
sits in between.
On the other side is Enrique Arbós’ Trez piezas originales, Op 1. Arbós
is probably best-known today for orchestrating some of Albeniz’ monumental
suite Iberia, but this is a formidable composition in its own right.
The opening bolero is flashy, fiery, but romantic too, very much an attention-getter.
The central habanera, slightly more relaxed, seduces in a different way. The
finale, Seguidillas Gitanas, is a scintillating dance structured a
bit like a scherzo, with the fast sections evoking the clicking of dancing
shoes.
In other words, this is a fine bit of musical tourism. The program is well-planned
and extremely well-executed by the Devich Trio, who are clearly having a lot
of fun. The playing time is comparatively short, but the structure of the
recital is wholly satisfying, and the four works on offer feel just right
for an aural holiday. If you like what you hear in this recital, do try to
check out Tomás Bretón’s Four Spanish Pieces, a similar suite of richly
folkloric music played with aplomb (but recorded harshly) on a Naxos disc
with the LOM Piano Trio. But this is such an easy recommendation that I need
only praise the stylish presentation, gripe slightly about the flattering
artist-centric liner notes, and comment on the natural sound which affords
each player equal prominence, before sending you off to your shopping cart.
Brian Reinhart
A well-planned recital of Spanish trios, executed with brio and passion.