Granados' Goyescas is a highlight of the late Romantic piano literature. It will be due to the high degree of difficulty that this music does not often appear on CD. For that reason alone, this beautiful CD by pianist Jean-Philippe Collard is very welcome. We actually hear six virtuoso ballads here, with dense textures full of melodic inspirations that constantly refer to each other. The music is
… also complex and layered in terms of emotion. Behind a facade of grace and courtesy are deep emotional explorations of melancholy, love and death. Sketches by the Spanish painter Goya would have been the source of inspiration, although you never actually get to see those sketches (in contrast to the paintings by Mussorgsky) as an illustration. Apparently Granados was mainly concerned with his own imagination. Jean-Philippe Collard honestly admits that he only started looking at Goya's work after he had mastered Granados' music. (HJ)more
