Toriana_ortiz

Born in Toledo, Diego Ortiz published the Trattado de Glosas in Rome in 1553. At that time he was living in Naples in the service of Ferdinand Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba and Viceroy of Naples. This region was deeply influenced by Spain. His treatise, published simultaneously in Spanish and Italian, is first and foremost a precious source for the art of Spanish instrumental performance. The second book of the Trattado de Glosas is performed here in its entirety, with Bruno Cocset and Guido Balestracci alternating in the Recercadas. As a counterpoint to this corpus mingling inventiveness and virtuosity, the programme includes short pieces by composers emblematic of the Golden Century of Spain, contemporaries of Ortiz: Antonio de Cabezón, Luis de Milán and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

This is one of my favorite recordings with Ortiz's renditions of the Rachmaninov and Addinsell ranking with some of the best I've heard. For me, the real attraction of this recording, however, is Gottschalk's "Grand Fantasia Triumfal" (Variations on the Brazilian National Anthem). Although originally a solo piano piece, it was arranged for piano and orchestra by Samuel Adler, which I recall hearing on a budget recording from the 1980s that I've long lost. In all honesty, it didn't really grab me as worthwhile. However, on this recording, pianist Ortiz and Chris Hazell (the producer of this recording) re-worked Adler's arrangement into something far more exciting and noble.