Achucarro’s Spain
This DVD presents a recital of Spanish piano music, given by Achúcarro in Madrid. Also on this disc is a performance of Manuel de Falla’s “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted Sir Simon Rattle.
Sir Simon Rattle said:
“There is something special with Achucarro. Very few musicians can extract this kind of sound from the piano”
While I agree that this was a special set of concerts, I personally got a bit tired of the Spanish aspect after a while. While the recital included a couple of other composers, the pianist still played Granados, de Falla and Albeniz, and it was somewhat tiresome for me. My own sense is that Mr. Achucarro might have been well advised to resort to some other composers for at least part of time, just to give the listener some additional variety in the program. You might ask “What composer?” That depends on your taste, but it could be any one of the following: Liszt, even Brahms, and potentially also Arnold Schoenberg. And for that matter, Rachmaninoff would also have worked…
But… it’s Spain on this DVD, so here are the specifics:
- I. “Falla: “Noches en los jardines de Espana” with the Berlin Philharmonic
- II. The solo recital from Madrid:
Albéniz:
Navarra
recorded October 7th 2010
Debussy:
Préludes – Book 2: No. 3, La Puerta del Vino
recorded October 7th 2010
Estampe No. 2 – La soirée dans Grenade
recorded October 7th 2010
Falla:
Noches en los jardines de Espana
recorded in Berlin, at Berliner Philharmonie, September 7th 2010
Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Homenaje a Debussy
recorded October 7th 2010
Fantasía Bética
recorded October 7th 2010
Granados:
Goyescas: Quejas ó La Maja y el Ruiseñor
recorded October 7th 2010
Ravel:
Gaspard de la Nuit
recorded October 7th 2010
Valses nobles et sentimentales
plus:
Alexander Scriabin: Nocturne
Recital performed by Joaquín Achúcarro, piano
Here is Joaquín Achúcarro performing Ravel’s “Valses Nobles et Sentimentales”:
And here is Joaquín Achúcarro performing Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes Op. 12:
Tags: Joaquín Achúcarro, piano, de Falla, Ravel, Debussy, Albeniz, Granados