Perianes

Josep Pons and Javier Perianes collaborate once again on a new album dedicated to Maurice Ravel entitled Jeux de Miroirs. The recording, released by harmonia mundi internationally on 29 November, features Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and Alborada del gracioso for solo piano, their respective orchestrations and Piano Concerto in G major with Orchestre de Paris. These musical ​‘mirror effects’ allow us to compare the original piano versions of two key works by Ravel with the orchestrations he made of them. Alongside these, the Concerto in G major offers an example of how the composer combines piano and orchestra, both when the piano is integrated into the overall sound and when it plays its traditional solo role.

During his all-too-brief life, the Andalusian composer Manuel Blasco de Nebra (1750-1784) left behind a handful of keyboard works that evoke Scarlatti's concise forms and extraordinary powers of invention. Each of the sonatas consists of two movements: an adagio followed by a fast finale. The adagios are stark and full of gut-wrenching, slowly resolving dissonant moments, while unpredictable twists and turns characterize the almost Haydn-esque Allegros and Prestos, as well as the E minor Pastorela Minuet's discursive melodic trajectory. At times Blasco de Nebra foreshadows future soulmates; you might mistake the Op. 1 C minor sonata finale's persistent dotted rhythms for Schumann's. Javier Perianes understands what makes de Nebra tick, borne out by his varied articulations, wide dynamic spectrum, and shapely embellishments.

The work of a young musician of 25, the celebrated Piano Concerto by Grieg combines the great Romantic tradition and Norwegian folk music. The 'Lyric Pieces' are among the works that made Grieg world-famous. As in the case of the Piano Concerto, commentators have held that a certain combination of intervals (the ‘Grieg motif’) is chiefly responsible for its specific Norwegian quality. For Grieg himself the question of Norwegian culture was a tremendously important one, and he used his international reputation to fight tirelessly for the recognition of Norway as a state.

Federico Mompou's Musica Callada (Music of Silence) consists of 28 pieces grouped into four books, ranging in length from less than a minute to slightly more than four. The works are not, obviously, all that silent, nor do they tax the listener's patience with endless repetition or static colors and harmonies. In fact, there's quite a bit of variety here, but it takes place within the framework of a certain exquisite simplicity of utterance that's very special, and very beautiful. The most noteworthy aspect of the music is its harmonic range, running from the highly dissonant to the most folk-like, even primitive.

This colorful and wide-ranging program brings together two virtuoso soloists, violist Tabea Zimmerman and pianist Javier Perianes, for an exploration of repertoire from Spain to South America featuring works by the greatest composers the countries of these regions have produced. Spanish folk songs arranged by Falla are paired here with compositions by Casals, Granados, Montsalvatge, Piazzolla and the beloved aria from the fifth Bachiana brasileira by Brazil's Villa-Lobos.

As if in a mirror, this recording juxtaposes the original piano versions of two of Ravel's masterpieces ('Le Tombeau de Couperin' and 'Alborada del gracioso') with their respective orchestrations. The 'Concerto in G Major' combines the two facets, both when the piano is integrated into the overall sound and when it plays its role as a soloist. The subtle playing of Javier Perianes and the refined sonorities of the Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Josep Pons, also remind us that Spain was the most significant source of inspiration in Ravel's output.