Joaquín Turina - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Juanjo Mena)

Information

Composer: Joaquín Turina

• (01-02) La procesión del Rocío, Op. 9
• (03) Rapsodia sinfónica, Op. 66
• (04-08) Danzas gitanas, Op. 55
• (09-15) Canto a Sevilla, Op. 37

María Espada, soprano (9-15)
Martin Roscoe, piano (3)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Juanjo Mena, conductor

Date: 2014
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010819

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Review

Juanjo Mena and the BBC Philharmonic continue their exploration of the Spanish repertoire with this programme pinpointing Turina’s Andalusian roots. However, listening to his Rapsodia sinfónica for piano and strings, a fairly late work of 1931, you are reminded that in his early years Turina studied in Paris, where Debussy held sway. While the music has a distinctive, ripe Spanish aroma, on occasion there are reminiscences of a Gallic finesse in texture, harmony and turns of phrase and, indeed, of the ways in which French composers of the early 20th century evoked a Spanish atmosphere. It makes for an attractive amalgam, particularly here with Martin Roscoe as a pianist who recognises the sophistication as well as the rhythmic robustness of the piano-writing.

The fact that Turina was a skilled orchestrator is manifest throughout this disc in performances of La procesión del rocío and the Danzas gitanas that have a shifting, subtle spectrum of colour delineating the music’s light and shade, its sunshine and louring clouds, its sensuality and sinew. What might come across as irksome motivic tics are woven into a rich, multifaceted fabric, no more so than in the Canto a Sevilla, a work that Victoria de los Angeles made her own. María Espada adds a luminous glow to this homage to Seville in all its mystery and magic, exuberance and eerie phantasms.

-- Geoffrey Norris, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / RECORDING: ****
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/content/turina-canto-sevilla-bbc-philharmonic

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Joaquín Turina (9 December 1882 – 14 January 1949) was a Spanish composer of classical music. He lived in Paris from 1905 to 1914 where he took composition lessons from Vincent d'Indy at his Schola Cantorum de Paris and studied the piano under Moritz Moszkowski. Along with Manuel de Falla, he returned to Madrid in 1914, working as a composer, teacher and critic. Much of his compositions shows the influence of traditional Andalusian music. His music often conveys a feeling of rapture or exaltation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaqu%C3%ADn_Turina

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Juanjo Mena (born 21 September 1965, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain) is a Spanish conductor. Mena attended the Madrid Royal Conservatory, where his teachers included Carmelo Bernaola (composition and orchestration) and Enrique García Asensio (conducting). He also studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache in Munich. Mena was artistic director and principal conductor of the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (1999-2008) and the ninth chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic since 2011. He was also principal guest conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra from 2007 to 2013,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanjo_Mena

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