It’s always a joy to see a new recording of Alberto Ginastera’s music; but at the same time, his colorful, dynamic works demand playing and sonics of the highest quality, and they simply don’t get either here. Isabelle Moretti’s attractive performance of the Harp Concerto makes the best impression, as the delicacy of the scoring taxes neither the orchestra nor the engineers.
Elsewhere, there are problems. Both Panambi and Estancia need much higher voltage than that provided by either conductor David Robertson or his orchestra. Brass come across as timid, strings undernourished. Where are those yapping horns in Estancia’s final “Malambo”, or for that matter, what happened to the tam-tam in the concluding bars? Neither performance holds a candle to Gisèle Ben-Dor on Conifer, or several others I could easily name (Tilson Thomas or Batiz in Estancia, for instance).
Ben-Dor (on Koch this time) also digs more deeply into the marvelous, neglected Glosses sobre Temes de Pau Casals. Compare the two versions of the work’s explosive conclusion: the Lyon orchestra sounds positively anemic. Robertson & Co. aren’t helped by dry, boxy recorded sound that attenuates the deep bass and seriously lacks impact. If you already have the harp concerto on ASV (Allen/Batiz), which also comes with a sensational First Piano Concerto, or Ben-Dor’s recordings, you really don’t need this newcomer.
One more point: listening to marvelous recent reissues by Stokowski and Dorati serves as a timely reminder that some artists care about what their recordings sound like, and others don’t. Robertson, who is building an impressive career for himself on both sides of the Atlantic, should take care that he’s one of the few who do. Technically, this sub-par effort should not have been passed for release. There’s really no excuse, and if the artists don’t insist on the highest quality and listen carefully to the finished product to ensure that it presents them in the best possible light, then they have no right to ask the public for their support. Pretty cover, though.
