COMPOSERS: Turina
LABELS: Naxos
ALBUM TITLE: Turina
WORKS: Danzas fantasticas; Danzas gitanas Opp. 55 & 84; Tres danzas andaluzas; Suite de danzas del siglo XIX; Dos danzas sobre temas populares espanole
PERFORMER: Jordi Maso
CATALOGUE NO: 8.55715
Joaquín Turina, himself a first-rate
pianist, was nothing if not an utterly
competent purveyor of colourful,
attractive evocations of his native
Andalusia, and there is much to
enjoy in this new disc (promised
as the first volume of the complete
piano music). Most of all, perhaps,
the ever-popular Danzas fantásticas
in their rarely heard original piano
form, which I find suits them better
than the composer’s rather splashy
orchestral impressionism. It’s only
when one compares Turina’s music
with the real summits of Spanish
keyboard writing – with, say, Albéniz
or Falla, or Granados’s Goyescas – that
one becomes aware of the music’s
narrow and rather self-satisfied
compass, its contentment to depict
rather than imaginatively infuse its
subject-matter. The ritual dances,
seductions and invocations of the two
sets of Danzas gitanas evoke parallels
with Falla’s El amor brujo, but with an
altogether lower expressive charge.
The disc is charming and
entertaining, especially when played
with the sympathy and sensitivity
that the always dependable Jordi
Masó brings to it. His range of touch
and ability to bring out the almost
orchestral colouring of Turina’s piano
writing are most impressive, and he
infuses a supple liveliness into the
underlying dance rhythms that this
music always requires. A promising
start to what is likely to be an
interesting series. Calum MacDonald