Granados: Tonadillas: No. 7, La maja de Goya

A deeply seductive album of Spanish songs by composers including Granados and Turina, performed by the young Spanish soprano Sylvia Schwartz, whose commitment to this repertoire is described above, and is evident from her utterly enchanting performances.

A work from Granados’ Goyescas, perhaps more familiar in the piano version, opens the programme, which continues with Tonadillas en estilo antiguo, a set also inspired by the paintings of Goya and in which this soprano demonstrates her wonderful emotional and dramatic range. The folk-influenced set of songs by Guridi is a beautiful series of Castillan melodies, creatively transcribed by the composer with aplomb. The recital is completed by works by Turina, Toldrá and Montsalvage, including the latter’s universally popular ‘Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito’.

Multi-award winner Anabel Montesinos returns to the Naxos label with the ‘graceful flexibility’ and ‘flawless technique’ (MusicWeb International) of her earlier acclaimed recital (8557294). She has since become 1st Prize Winner at the prestigious 2010 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition in Alessandria.

This programme is emblematic of the ‘Spanish guitar’, ranging from Pujol’s and Rodrigo’s respective Tres piezas españolas which descend from traditional folk styles, to Fernando Sor’s Variations on a Theme of Mozart, a showpiece which turns the guitar into a ‘miniature orchestra’.

John Williams is regarded as a foremost ambassador of the guitar and one of the greatest guitarists of the post-Segovia period. In 1958 at the age of just 18 years, he recorded the first of a long series of discs which in a short time would have him hailed as an artist of international value.

The world is not short of guitar transcriptions of Granado’s piano music but this recording is special. Tom Kerstens plays a copy of an 1888 Antonio de Torres guitar, less bright than modern instruments, allowing for more subtle dynamic shading which he exploits in dazzling style.