Garrick Ohlsson’s huge hands and supple fingers embrace Granados’ passionate, intricately-wrought idiom with the utmost ease and sympathy, while at the same time making the six pieces of Goyescas absolutely his own. While Ohlsson’s rubatos and dynamic surges may not palpitate as much as Alicia De Larrocha’s (compare, for example, his relatively contained climaxes in Coloquio en la reja to Laroccha’s, which are bursting at the seams), his interpretations offer plenty of details to savor.
Perky inner voices and deliciously varied guitar-like strums keep Los requiebros afloat, despite the pianist not adhering to all of the composer’s tempo fluctuations. Conversely, Ohlsson projects El fandango del candil’s sultry swagger while strictly adhering to Granados’ articulation indications. Quejas o la Maja is appropriately lyrical and flexible, although the final cadenza’s bird-like trills don’t match Cristina Ortiz’s lightness and fantasy. However, the lengthy El amor y la muerte benefits from Ohlsson’s headlong sweep and power. The latter characteristics impart a kind of Brahmsian solidity to El pelele’s busy left-hand passages.
Lastly, Granados’ prize-winning competition piece Allegro de Concierto abounds with Lisztian panache and full-bodied orchestral textures–qualities that are right up Ohlsson’s pianistic alley. Indeed, it’s hard to choose between his suave, elegantly glittering reading and the more nuanced and poetic 1985 Larrocha digital remake. Hyperion’s fine engineering and booklet notes sweeten this disc’s appeal. Recommended.
