YUJA WANG - The Vienna Recital : Albéniz · Beethoven · Каpustin · Ligeti · Scriabin (2024) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

No longer the young sensation, pianist Yuja Wang these days gets Deutsche Grammophon's "The [fill-in-the-city-name] Recital" treatment with several live concert recordings presented as major events, and, indeed, they are. This one was made in Vienna in April of 2022, and it is a remarkable high-wire act in its programming and execution, one that few pianists of the present or past could have duplicated. The usually staid Viennese press reported that the crowd on hand "went wild." One would never know that; Deutsche Grammophon's engineers have stripped out every trace of audience noise, and one wishes for traces of the excitement hearers must have felt as Wang swings from Albéniz to Scriabin to the Russian jazz of Nikolai Kapustin to Beethoven. All that is just in the first half of the show. One can try without success to figure out exactly what makes all this music hang together in Wang's hands; she is certainly one of the few pianists who could successfully follow etudes of Ligeti with one of Glass. The secret seems to lie in the detail she brings to each work. Consider her quick reading of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major, Op. 31, No. 3 ("The Hunt"), in which she turns the opening gesture, usually gentle, into the call of a hunting horn at the beginning of an active outdoor happening. It is the same throughout, and the music works because it is all done sensitively, and it coheres into what the booklet calls "a musical gallery." An impressive outing from Wang, who continues to live up to and even exceed the high expectations she has generated for herself through publicity. Completely unsurprisingly, this release made classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2024. James Manheim    Tracklist & Credits :

ALBÉNIZ : Iberia, Libros 1 & 2 • Espana, op.165 (Daniel Barenboim) (2001) FLAC (image+.cue) lossless

 Tracklist & Credits :

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 1 | Iberia Books 1-4 · Suites Españolas Nos. 1 and 2 (Guillermo González) 2CD (1998) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Albéniz’s output as a composer was vast, embracing songs, operas, symphonic rhapsodies, concertos and choral music, but it was through his own instrument, the piano, that he most decisively put the musical heritage of Spain on the international map. Ranging from pleasantly atmospheric salon pieces to blisteringly virtuosic tone poems, his piano works amount to a kind of biography of his native land, drawing on the styles and spirit of every region with incomparable vividness and skill. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 2 | Recuerdos de viaje · Espagne · Azulejos · La Vega · Navarra (Guillermo González) (2007) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Albéniz was a leading figure in the creation of a national style of composition in Spain. This second volume of his piano music combines the early, romantic Recuerdos de viaje, with works composed during the composer’s Parisian period, which ran up to his death in 1909. Whereas in his early works Albéniz borrows tunes from native Spanish folk-lore, almost all of his melodies in the Parisian works are original. Here the writing is bolder and more experimental, marked by tonal ambiguity and new sonorities as in, for example, the dissonant and intricately polyphonic La Vega or the technically difficult and harmonically complex Navarra. Volume 1 of Guillermo González’s recording of the complete Albéniz piano music is available on Naxos 8.554311-12. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 3 | 6 Danzas españolas · 6 Pequeños valses · 6 Mazurkas de salón (Guillermo González) (2009) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

The third volume of Albéniz’s piano music presents three contrasting sets of dances, each brimming with the delicacy, joie de vivre and voluptuous beauty that characterise so much of his music. Albéniz is touched by the spirit of Chopin in his delightful Pequeños valses, while the Mazurkas de salón, like those of his predecessor, and the Danzas españolas both transcend mere folkloricism. Volumes 1 (8.554311-12) and 2 (8.570553), also featuring Guillermo González, one of the leading authorities on the composer, have been critically acclaimed. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 4 | Suite ancienne No. 3 · Sonata No. 5 · Tres Improvisaciones · Serenata Árabe (Rubén Ramiro) (2014) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Just as Albéniz did in his concert programmes, this recording alternates pieces in Spanish style with some of the entertaining salon miniatures written for Spain’s aristocracy during the last two decades of the 19th century. The Suite ancienne reflects Albéniz’s delight in creating personal versions of 18th-century dances, while echoes of Chopin and Grieg lurk behind the themes of the Sonata No. 5. The Rêverie is a work of great expressive intensity, the Serenata árabe is more recognisably Albéniz, and the Tres improvisaciones are a transcription of the only recording ever made by the composer. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 5 | Siete estudios · Les Saisons · Rapsodia Cubana · Suite antigua No. 1 (Juan José Mudarra Gámiz) (2014) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

In the latest volume of this critically admired series, a number of rarely heard pieces from Albéniz’s first compositional phase can be savoured. They were composed between 1881 and 1892 and reveal the variety and flair of which he was capable, even in the smallest of musical forms, such as the delicious mazurkas. The Siete estudios (Seven Studies) are no mere exercises—rather they fuse the colour of Iberian music with the rigour of Central European traditions. Les Saisons is an evocative portrait of the seasons and can be seen as a forerunner of the impressionistic writing that would soon appear in French music. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 6 | España · Deseo · Zortzico · Yvonne en visite! (Santiago López Sacristán) (2014) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Volume 6 of this complete edition focusses in the main on Albéniz’s richly varied, early salon style. It includes the dazzling Chopin influenced Vals Champagne, the Estudio de concierto which rivals Liszt for virtuosity, and the famous Tango from España: Seis hojas de Álbum, a set which conjures up Spain in its rhythms, harmonies and sense of drama. Written a year before the composer’s death, Yvonne en visite! includes a humorous scene during a pupil’s reluctant performance, while the Marcha militar is Albéniz’s earliest work, composed at the age of eight. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 7 | 12 Piezas Características · Sonata No. 3 (Hernán Milla) (2015) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

The seventh volume in this acclaimed series is devoted to two works of Albéniz’s early maturity. The 12 Piezas características is a cycle of exquisite miniatures encompassing a wide variety of styles, including the assimilation of Andalusian folk music into his own personal idiom, reminiscences of earlier greats such as Scarlatti and Chopin, and elements of nineteenth-century salon music. The work led Felipe Pedrell, the father of Spanish musical nationalism, to call Albéniz not only a superbly equipped pianist but a great composer as well. The romantic and virtuosic Piano Sonata No. 3 opens with a richly contrapuntal Allegretto, followed by a slow movement of the utmost delicacy in the manner of a romanza and concludes with a technically complex Allegro assai. naxos

ALBÉNIZ : Piano Music • 8 | Mallorca · Sonata No. 4 · Rapsodia española (Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Laiz) (2017) Serie Spanish Classics | FLAC (tracks), lossless

The eighth volume in this acclaimed series of Isaac Albéniz’s complete solo piano works features a wide range of pieces from his early period. These charming works show a development from 19th-century salon style towards the assimilation of Spanish folk music, including rare jewels such as the relatively unknown Minuet in G minor, and the Mallorca barcarole with its use of novel rhythmic material. The programme concludes with the virtuoso Spanish Rhapsody in its less well-known solo piano version. naxos

GRANADOS : In the Village • Goyescas • ALBENIZ : Triana (Douglas Riva, Jordi Masó) (2008) FLAC (tracks), lossless

“The Riva series is essential for anyone interested in Spanish piano music." (MusicWeb International)
This final volume in the Naxos edition of Granados' complete piano music begins with the composer's final work, an impassioned and colourful transcription of the Intermezzo from the opera Goyescas. The disc also includes several youthful works dedicated to or inspired by women, as well as works inspired by Nature. The intricate Marchas militares for piano duet are among the composer's most delightful compositions, while the brilliant transcription of Albéniz's Triana from Iberia is his only work scored for two pianos. NAXOS
About this Recording

Enrique Granados (1867-1916)

1    Goyescas. Intermezzo    
2-5    Melodias
6    Mazurca Alla Polacca
7    Mazurka in A Minor
8    Andantino espressivo
9    Andalucia-Petenera
10    Canto del pescador (Fisherman's Song)
11    La Berceuse
12-14    3 Marchas Militaires    
15-24    En la aldea, Poema
25-26    2 Marchas militares

Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
(arr. E. Granados for 2 pianos)
27    Iberia, Book 2: No. 3. Triana

ALBÉNIZ : Concierto Fantástico, Op 78 • Rapsodia Española, Op 70 ♦ GRANADOS : Concerto In C Minor 'Patético' (Melani Mestre · BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra · Martyn Brabbins) (2015) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 65 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

With this release, Hyperion's series of Romantic piano concertos reaches its 65th album, and even faithful buyers may suspect, given the presence of a nonexistent Piano Concerto in C minor ("Patético") by Enrique Granados, that the bottom of the barrel is near. That work consists of some sketches for one movement for a concerto that was abandoned for unknown reasons. The completion of that movement, by Catalan pianist Melani Mestre, is by no means implied by the existing material, and the other two movements of the traditional three-movement form are simply adapted from other Granados compositions. There's little here to make listeners sit up and take notice. Neither is the Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 78 ("Concierto fantástico"), of Isaac Albéniz an essential work of that composer, but the serious Albéniz fan will find something to chew on in its pairing with the Rapsodia española, Op. 70, here in an orchestration by the composer himself that has generally been considered inferior. (The concerto is presented in a later orchestration by Tomás Bretón.) It's striking that these two works were composed within a few years of each other: the Rapsodia, true to its name, is brimming with Spanish influences, while the A minor concerto could pass for Schumann. What's interesting is that the concerto, although not much heard these days, was hailed as a masterpiece after its premiere, both in Spain and in France. It's the sparkling scherzo, not especially Spanish but rhythmically distinctive, that listeners found intriguing, and Mestre gives an attractive performance that helps put the listener in the frame of mind of those who were hearing the young Albéniz for the first time. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins does its usual solid job in varied material. James Manheim  
Tracklist :
Piano Concerto No 1 In A Minor Op 78 'Concierto Fantástico'(27:49)
Composed By – Isaac Albéniz
Orchestrated By – Tomás Bretón

Rapsodia Española Op 70 (San Sebastián Version) 13:14
Composed By – Isaac Albéniz

Piano Concerto In C Minor 'Patético'(35:53)
Composed By – Enrique Granados

Lento Grave E Quasi Recitativo - Allegro Grave Non Molto Lento 18:36
Arranged By [Reconstructed By] – Melani Mestre

Allegretto (After Danza Española No 2: Orientale & Capricho Español) 8:33
Adapted By [For Piano And Orchestra] – Melani Mestre

Molto Allegro (After Allegro De Concierto) 8:45
Adapted By [For Piano And Orchestra] – Melani Mestre
Credits :
Conductor – Martyn Brabbins
Leader – Laura Samuel
Orchestra – BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Piano – Melani Mestre

FILOMENA MORETTI - Filomena Moretti plays Albeniz, Bach, Barrios, De Falla, etc. (2002) APE (image+.cue), lossless

ALICIA DE LARROCHA - Icon : The Complete EMI Recordings (2010) 8xCD BOX-SET / RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

EMI's eight-CD box set of Alicia de Larrocha's early recordings is entirely devoted to the works of Spanish composers, whose music she championed for decades. Most of the tracks were originally recorded on Hispavox in the 1960s, though an additional recording from 1992 helps round out the package, while the final disc offers her 1971 Hunter College recital with soprano Victoria de los Angeles. For the most part, the compilation is a generous survey of piano music by Antonio Soler, Enriqué Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Turina, and a piano concerto by Xavier Montsalvatge; the song recital also includes selections by Antonio Literes, Blas de Laserna, and Gerónimo Giménez, so the presentation covers Spanish compositions from the Classical to the modern eras. De Larrocha was greatly admired for her dedication to this repertoire, and her legacy starts with these recordings, which have been remastered to have the best possible sound. The crispness of the reproduction reveals the precision and delicacy of de Larrocha's playing, and the closeness of the recordings in many cases gives her realistic presence. While de Larrocha is perhaps best remembered for the music offered here, her discography on other labels includes her great recordings of works by Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, and Debussy, so this package only gives a partial view of her numerous accomplishments.  by Blair Sanderson  
All Tracks

GRANADOS _ Goyescas - ALBÉNIZ _ Iberia (Martin Jones) (2004) 2CD / FLAC

GRANADOS [1867-1916] Goyescas 

 ISAAC ALBENIZ [1860-1909] Iberia

 Martin Jones / Piano 

Nimbus [2004] 2CD / FLAC / scans

O Púbis da Rosa

ALBÉNIZ - Complete Piano Music Vol. 7 (Miguel Baselga) (1998) Mp3

ALBÉNIZ - Complete Piano Music Vol. 6 (Miguel Baselga) (1998) Mp3

ALBÉNIZ - Complete Piano Music Vol. 5 (Miguel Baselga) (1998) Mp3

ALBÉNIZ - Complete Piano Music Vol. 4 (Miguel Baselga) (1998) Mp3

ALBÉNIZ - Complete Piano Music Vol. 3 (Miguel Baselga) (1998) Mp3