The well-worn old tradition of the Spanish-music piano recital gets an attempt at renewal here from adventurous Montreal pianist
Louise Bessette, with consistently interesting results.
Bessette expands the theme with some contemporary music and some music from outside Spain. The program opens with
Ernesto Lecuona's suite Andalucía and closes with the Nuevas monodías españolas of Spanish-Canadian composer
José Evangelista. These are entirely novel pieces, elaborating on monophonic pieces of Iberian folk music without adding harmony: the "settings" consist of elements of register and decoration. Both that work and
Tomás Marco's Soleá (1982) demonstrate the continuing relevance of Spanish national styles and their potential for being reconciled with techniques drawn from Germanic modernism. The Tango, Op. 164, of
Albéniz and the Danzas Gitanas, Op. 55, of
Turina are familiar fare for such programs; both receive clean performances, and the impressionistic style of the
Turina plays to
Bessette's strengths. Both are set up nicely by the inclusion of a short piece by
Federico Mompou, whose proto-minimalist style usually disqualifies him from inclusion in programs of this kind.
Bessette seems to try to beef up the
Lecuona a bit with a dry emphasis on its rhythms, and the natural lyricism of the music gets lost; those after a performance of this piece specifically can find more typical ones. But as a fresh turn on an old theme, the album is most enjoyable, with good sound achieved in a room at McGill University. The booklet notes are in French and English.