For this integral recording of Xavier Montsalvatge’s solo piano works, the late composer chose eight young pianists who he had heard play his music and whose approaches represent different interpretive viewpoints. It’s what these pianists have in common, however, that proves interesting. Each is highly attuned to the dance-like orientation that characterizes the composer’s rhythmic language (from sultry tango to hot jazz) and is at one with his pungent polytonal imagination. As a result, the performances smolder with intensity and sharply drawn accents, whether in relatively undemanding fare such as the 1990 Noah’s Ark suite (written for young pianists) or the substantial and quite difficult 1987 Three Works for the left hand. No doubt that the close-up, slightly twangy sonics have more than a little to do with my observations.
I recommend this disc, but with the proviso that you try to hear Benita Meshulam’s Montsalvatge recital on ASV (not quite the complete piano music, but about 90 percent of it). Benefiting from superior engineering, Meshulam’s refined, nuanced pianism softens the music’s edges yet goes further in exploring each work’s coloristic possibilities.
