Nicholas Unwin manages to squeeze all four books of Albéniz’s Iberia onto one CD, while all three Alicia De Laroccha versions spill over to a second disc. The engineering is clear and full of body, much like Unwin’s immaculate technique and evenly modulated sonority. In fact, the only drawback to Unwin’s beautiful playing lies in the competition. He tosses off El Albaicin’s alternating right hand/left hand patterns with clinical ease, yet misses De Laroccha’s rhythmic snap and crackle. He tames Triana’s labyrinthine polyphony with acrobatic deftness while underplaying the music’s flowing urgency. In contrast to De Laroccha’s heartfelt deliberation, Unwin skates across Jerez’s pretty surface as if it were a balmy Poulenc nocturne, pacifying rather than intensifying the music’s harmonic tension.
In the meantime, Miguel Basselga’s ongoing Albéniz cycle for BIS allots one book from Iberia per release, and his smoldering, assured artistry merits serious attention. If sound is not your primary consideration, check out the late Esteban Sanchez on Ensayo, whose internalized, emotionally intense interpretations live dangerously. Until Connoisseur Society reissues Michel Block’s unsurpassed early-1970s version, my favorite Iberias on CD remain (in order of preference) Sanchez, De Laroccha’s 1962 recording on EMI, and Martin Jones on Nimbus.
