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Monday, October 5, 2020

Carlos Guastavino - Complete Piano Music (Martin Jones)


Information

Composer: Carlos Guastavino

CD1:
  • (01) Gato
  • (02) Bailecito
  • (03) Tierra Linda
  • (04) Sonatina
  • (07) Sonata in C-sharp minor
  • (11) Tres Sonatinas
  • (14) Estilo, A la manera popular
  • (15) La Siesta. Tres Preludios
  • (18) Pampeano
  • (19) La trade en Rincon
  • (20) Las niñas
  • (21) Romance de Cuyo (La Zamacueca)
CD2:
  • (01) Diez Preludios
  • (11) Diez Cantilenas Argentinas
CD3:
  • (01) Tres Romances Nuevos
  • (03) Peublito, mi pueblo, Cancion Argentina
  • (04) Las Presencias
  • (09) Mis Amigos
  • (19) Diez Cantos Populares

Martin Jones, piano
Date: 2008
Label: Nimbus

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Review

Magical music by this Argentine composer will give hours of pleasure

Although Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000) spent a significant portion of his adult life in bustling, cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, he was born and raised in Santa Fe, the heart of what Argentines call “the interior”. Perhaps Guastavino’s un-urbane roots account for his music’s melodically sweet, open-hearted character. Certainly his style is less angular and aggressive than that of his more famous contemporary, Alberto Ginastera.

The earliest works here – Gato, a lively, syncopated dance, and the more melancholy Bailecito, both from 1940 – establish a Nationalist mood that Guastavino sustained over the course of his career. In fact, when one reaches his final set of piano pieces, the Diez cantos populares (1976), it’s surprising how little has changed. True, the writing is noticeably pared down and refined – he seems to say more with fewer notes – but his folksy tunefulness remains as charming as ever.

That Guastavino was a miniaturist is unarguable. He remains best known for his songs, and the majority of his piano pieces might be described as “songs without words”. Even his lone Sonata is constructed in four rather slender, songful movements – though with its cyclical structure, it holds together rather well. Why it’s not played or recorded more often is difficult to fathom. Then again, the same could be said for so much of what’s contained on these three generously filled discs. The three preludes that make up La siesta (1952), for example, are fragrantly atmospheric and full of exquisite harmonic detail. Yet Guastavino can be profound, too, as in the seventh of the 10 Cantilenas Argentinas (1958), a tiny portrait of yearning melancholy that’s akin to some of Brahms’s darker intermezzi.

Throughout, Martin Jones shows just how magical this music can be. The faster, rhythmically active pieces are dashed off with smiling exuberance whereas the more lyrical ones are given a tastefully affectionate caress. Nimbus’s recorded sound is on the reverberant side, evoking the ambience of an empty concert hall. A more intimate acoustic might have been more apt but, well, that’s quibbling. This is a marvellous, valuable set that’s already given me many hours of pleasure.

-- Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone

More reviews:

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Carlos Guastavino (5 April 1912 – 28 October 2000) was one of the foremost Argentine composers of the 20th century. He studied music in his hometown Santa Fe with Esperanza Lothringer and Dominga Iaffei, and in Buenos Aires with Athos Palma. A talented pianist, he performed his works in London in 1947-49, and later toured the USSR and China in 1956. As a composer, Guastavino published more than 150 songs for voice and piano, numerous piano pieces, choral works, school songs, and chamber music. Influenced by Argentine folk music, his music was quite conservative, tonal and lusciously romantic.

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Martin Jones (born 4 February 1940 in Witney) is an English concert pianist. He studied at Royal Academy of Music with Guido Agosti, Guy Jonson, and Gordon Green. In 1968 he received the Dame Myra Hess Award and made his debuts in London and New York. Jones has performed as concerto soloist with many of the leading British orchestras, as well as in the USA and Russia. His performance repertoire includes most of the standard works for piano, as well as unusual concertos such as the Busoni's. Martin Jones is a prolific recording artist and since 1988 has recorded many discs for Nimbus Records.

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5 comments:

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  2. I recommend the Grainger recordings by Martin. If not, the soundtrack of Howard's End. Just gorgeous music.

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  4. Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Free Access with Ads' / 'Get link'. Complete the steps / captchas if require.

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