The phrase 'classical compilation' is widely associated with
the latest release from Classic FM (UK), a mishmash reordering
of the same basic playlist of bleeding chunks made famous by
TV adverts. Still less well known even than fellow Catalan composer
and contemporary Federico Mompou, Xavier Montsalvatge is a long
way off the ignominy of death by a thousand repetitions. Instead,
this CD from Barcelona-based independent label Columna Música
is a generous compilation of recordings from the back catalogue,
and serves as a taster for Montsalvatge's quality music on the
twin occasion of the centenary of his birth and the decennary
of his death.
Perhaps surprisingly for those to whom his name is still unfamiliar,
Montsalvatge is fairly well represented on CD, with five recordings
available, for example, of the Concierto Breve and more
still of the Sonatine pour Yvette. Naxos have been generous
in the last couple of years with three volumes of solo piano
music, but Columna Música have supported his cause since
their foundation more than fifteen years ago.
The disc includes his best-known work, the delicious Cinco
Canciones Negras, sung by the inimitable Victoria de los
Ángeles, Montsalvatge's most prominent advocate and close
friend. She is accompanied by orchestral playing that is rather
shaky in places, but everywhere else performances range from
the solid to the splendid. Montsalvatge's music ranges across
a number of styles, most notably neo-classicism and impressionism.
Many of his works also draw on serialism and polytonality, and
in later years he was seen as part of the European avant-garde.
But only the brief extract from the string trio Cuadrivio
falls into that category in this collection. Elsewhere, melody
is seldom far away and an attractive Spanish/Catalan colour
is splashed across many works. Both aspects come together in
perfect unison in the lovely Madrigal, Montsalvatge's heartfelt
setting of the exquisite Catalan folksong, El Cant dels Ocells,
made famous by Pau Casals.
No attempt has been made to normalise volume levels across the
various tracks, but generally sound quality is pretty good throughout,
even where age has bequeathed a certain flatness. The song Nana
has some hiss, echo and a squeaky floorboard, but nothing that
detracts from the passion of the music.
Surprisingly, the booklet notes reveal nothing about the recordings
in this selection, and there is no information on any of the
performers. The focus is rightly on Montsalvatge, but would
it have been too much trouble for Columna Música to copy
details over from the relevant originals? The brief editorial
essay - shakily translated into English in places, but readable
- offers some background to the CD, part of a broader set of
projects initiated by the recently-founded Xavier
Montsalvatge Society to promote the musician and the intellectual.
Their discography list is huge, although at the time of writing
(September 2012) the third volume in Naxos's series dedicated
to Montsalvatge's complete piano music (8.572636) had not yet
been added.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Performance details
a Cinco Canciones Negras, for soprano and orchestra
(1945-46/1949) [11:38]
b Energico (from: Concierto Breve, for piano and
orchestra (1953)) [10:03]
c Overture - Mira si soy desgraciado - Adagietto
(from: El Gato con Botas (1948)) [13:34]
d Sentimi, Angela (from: Una voce in Off
(1962)) [2:29]
e Sonatine pour Yvette, for piano (1961) [9:15]
f Madrigal sobre un Tema Popular (El Cant dels
Ocells), for soprano, cello and piano (1991) [5:18]
g Barcelona Blues - Música de Ballet, for
two pianists (1956) [5:19]
h Variacions sobre el tema de 'La Spagnoletta' de Giles Farnaby,
for violin and piano (1945) [8:58]
i Divagació, for piano (1950) [3:22]
j Energico ostinato (from: Cuadrivio para tres
Stradivarius, for string trio (1983)) [2:53]
k Nana, for soprano and piano (1946) [3:56]
a Victoria de los Ángeles (soprano)
c Isabel Monar (soprano), Enric Martínez-Castigniani
(barítone)
c,d Antoni Comas (tenor)
c,f Marisa Martins (mezzo-soprano)
k Nancy Fabiola Herrera (mezzo)
f Selma Gokcen (cello)
h,j Ala Voronkova (violin)
j Josephine Fitzpatrick (viola), Manuel Martínez
del Fresno (cello)
b Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
e,f,g,h,k Mac McClure (piano)
g Ramon Garriga (piano)
i Carlota Garriga (piano)
a Orchestre de la Société des Concerts
du Conservatoire / Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
b Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra
/ Lawrence Foster
c,d Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu
/ Antoni Ros-Marbà
d Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
COLUMNA MÚSICA 1CM0296 [76:45] 