If you’re familiar with Mompou’s exquisite miniatures for piano, you’ll know what to expect from that composer’s younger, lesser-known colleague Manuel Blancafort (1897-1987). Blancafort amassed a sizeable catalog of works in spite of the fact that he spent a large portion of his life working for an insurance company (as did Charles Ives, by the way). The works collected on this disc date from Blancafort’s late teens and early 20s. Their formal dimensions may be modest in the manner of, say, Grieg’s Lyric Pieces or Grainger’s easier folk-song settings, yet their remarkable harmonic sophistication, textural refinement, and communicative warmth are positively addictive. While introspection, lyricism, and delicacy are generally the order of the day, flashes of extroversion sneak into Ocells al ce d’abril’s Gershwinesque flourishes, or into the guitar-like patterns at the beginning of Canço del matí Lluminós.
Pianist Miquel Villalba’s pearly, singing tone and sensitive musicianship are all you could wish for. Listen to how he caresses the lilting melodies throughout the 12 Cançons (based on traditional Catalan tunes), or how he gently underlines harmonic felicities with the subtlest change of color or accent. Tempos seem right on the money, neither too fast nor too slow. Villalba’s informative and knowledgeable annotations attain similar perfection away from the piano. The engineering is acceptable but could have used a touch more ambient luster and bloom. In short, this is a perfect disc to accompany a rainy afternoon or a lazy weekend morning.
