The
Goyescas
of
Enrique Granados
are a suite of six pieces plus a seventh of similar inspiration,
El pelele
, that is often performed with the set (as here by pianist
Javier Perianes
). These are technically difficult pieces, surely among the heights of the Spanish piano repertory. The
were inspired by the art of
Francisco Goya
, but only two works -- the tenebrous "El amor y la muerte" and
-- can be traced to specific
Goya
works. Both the performance by
and the excellent notes by
Claire Fraysse
illuminate why this is not the problem it might seem.
's paintings captured a whole milieu, forming a picture of what might be called hip Madrid society around 1800; both
and
Granados
, in
Fraysse
's works, were fin-de-siècle artists.
' pieces also have a stream-of-consciousness quality, seeming to tell a story even when the story is not there. It is this quality that is captured in
Perianes
' playing, which is not only technically confident but also moves forward as if animated by buried thoughts. Sample the second
Goyesca
, "Coloquio en la reja," which has the flavor of a conversation at the window, even if one does not know what is being talked about. If it wasn't based on an actual
painting, it could have been, as it were.
is brilliant when he needs to be, but it is the small subtleties that put this performance across. There are plenty of performances of the
, many of them Spanish, going back to that of
Alicia de Larrocha
, but this one has what it takes to stand out. ~ James Manheim