Search - Alberto Ginastera, Josep Pons, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada :: Ginastera: Estancia (Quatro danzas del ballet); Concierto para arpa y orquesta; Obertura para el "Fausto" criollo; Variaciones concertantes

Ginastera's greatest hits

philvscott | Marrickville, New South Wales Australia | 12/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great CD. Why? Because these are probably the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera's four most accessible pieces, the sound is clear and cool, and Pons and his smallish orchestra play with finesse. This is, in my opinion, the best harp concerto written in the last hundred years, and the Variaciones concertantes Op. 23 is a masterpiece. You can certainly find bigger, splashier versions of the Estancia ballet suite: if that's your main interest, look for Gisele Ben-Dor's LSO version of the complete ballet (with the complete Panambi) on a hard to find Conifer CD. And Howard Hanson's old Rochester recording of the Creole Faust Overture is much more earthy. Nevertheless, Pons lays it all out beautifully before us, and avoids the slow tempi that characterize some of his other performances (the Bizet Symphony, for instance). Make no mistake, this is music to be savoured."