Various Composers - 'Live In Tokyo' Guitar Works [Boyd] 

For quite some time i've been meaning to buy some Liona Boyd discs, she's got some desirable discs in her catalogue, but which one?, i bought this as the cover looked really good, plus the repertoire on the disc sounded interesting too, though i'm a bit dubious about live recordings, especially in a recital of smaller pieces, but that didn't worry me as i listened to this disc, she plays pieces over a huge era, and a very varied programme, though i must admit that some more music would have been welcomed [53 minutes].

Liona Boyd was born in England, but moved to Canada when she was eight with her parents, so i guess she counts as Canadian, she's now 63, she made this recording in 1984, the front cover picture [by Yoshino Oishi], shows a portrait of Boyd, very much a Japanese theme, i like the green dress and the blonde hair, there's a certain glow about her in the sunlight, and like Japanese writing, the lettering is written from top to bottom, altogether a lovely picture.

There were some good unknowns on this disc, probably the Soler Sonata was a nice little discovery, but the piece that i found the really best was track 7 'Mallorca' by Albeniz, originally written by piano, it's transcribed here by Boyd herself, and i must admit that i've heard this piece being played on the guitar before, and on this version it's slightly different, a 6 minute piece, slow and languid, but with a faster and more exciting central section, the key is actually in D Minor [for me the key of death!, though i'm sure that isn't what Albeniz had in mind], the opening tune is gorgeous, so when the central section comes in [1:42-4:00] it creates such a wonderful variant, a very nice rhythm indeed, starting with an opening strum, and it uses this as a sort of 'idee fixe' throughout, and even in this central section, it seems to have it's own central section, where some nice judicious high treble notes are played [2:40-3:00], the return to the very opening tune [3:00+], can seem a Minor downturn, but the tune is beautiful, and the whole thing is played with expert virtuosity by Boyd, she can be a crossover Artist, but she's no slouch when it comes to the real thing, she's a serious pro, a lovely little recital disc, the Japanese audience are very polite indeed, and are as unobtrusive as can be.

Here's Samuel Klemke playing Mallorca by Albeniz on YouTube.

Albeniz - Suite Espanola [Larrocha]

The first anniversary of Alicia De Larrocha's death comes up later this month, she recorded these works in 1986, and maybe these two discs are her greatest legacy.

The suite Espanola seems to have been kidnapped by Guitarists, just about every Guitarist has learnt one of these pieces [usually Asturias], , i know these pieces better in the Guitar garb than in the original myself, and of course they are very strumming/picking type of works, maybe Albeniz was trying to mimic the sound of the Guitar.

The Suite of eight pieces is very varied, on this listen i was very impressed with 1 & 3-5, with the fifth piece 'Asturias' being the gem of the whole set, and probably the most complex and difficult to play, it has flamenco rhythms, and at times it can seem that the left and right hands play against each other, the first section [0:00-1:33] starts off with the rippling piano [0:00+], which some treble is added to [0:22+], and then these 'outbursts' [0:33+], where both hands lunge at a chord, the left hand towards the bass, and the right hand towards the treble, creating wide leaps for the hands, this must be difficult to accurately play, especially at the speed indicated by Albeniz, here's a visual on YouTube played by Katherina Helmut, with a volume increase needed as well, this very section returns towards the end of the piece [3:43-5:12], a very exciting piece, with a middle 'moorish drone' to it all, it's certainly great in its guitar incarnation as well.

Here's Alicia De Larrocha playing 'Asturias' on YouTube.

Albeniz - Iberia [Larrocha]

I bought this set in late 1992, and played it quite extensively, i must admit i don't play it as often today, but i fell in love with these very Spanish pieces, and Larrocha being a native, has for years been the leading interpreter in this music.

Larrocha was born in Spain, she died last September, these recordings come from the late eighties, she was in her mid sixties when she recorded them, i must admit the sound is not ideal, it's somewhat blunted and dull sounding, there isn't that distinctive ring in the treble.

The front cover is excellent, the photo is by Christian Steiner, a nicely lit subject, with a jet black background, Alicia really stands out, and very pleasing writing, very well done Decca!.

One of the things i notice about Iberia, is the fact that all the pieces sound fairly similar, it's hard to pick out individualism amongst the twelve, but on this listen i did like track 2 'El Puerto', and track 5 'Almeria', with El Puerto just edging it, it's actually the shortest piece of the set at just over 4 minutes, a happy skipping tune, but there's some tumbling involved here and there, there's a slightly dissonant episode in the middle [1:33-1:56], the piece is very free-wheeling, towards the end there's a very reflective moment [3:21-3:41], the piano plays in the higher registers, and slower/quieter, very nice, which turns into a slow coda of sorts [3:42+], but fun has the last word as the piece ends on two 'irreverent' bass notes! [4:06], it's like a mischievous child.

Here's Alicia De Larrocha playing El Puerto on YouTube.