Federico Mompou: Cançons i danzas & Preludes
Mompou:
- Preludi
- Cançon y Danzas
Performed by Alicia de Larrocha (piano)
I did not know the music of Federico Mompou until I heard it performed by pianist Stephen Hough. And something in this music attracted me: Perhaps it was its simplicity; or the fact that it conveyed strong emotion, whether joyous or sad.
Federico Mompou was treasured by fellow composers, beloved by many pianists, and in many ways he was more a poet than a composer of music. He was a Catalan man who quietly lived through the region’s turbulent 20th century, dying in Barcelona in 1987.
In Mompou’s music, the notes themselves often come and go without fuss, leaving few traces behind, and in that sense his music is along the lines of Fauré and Satie; Although they’re not rhythmically complex, making these songs and dances sing and dance is harder than it might seem.
Pianist Alicia de Larrocha was at a distinct advantage, knowing the retiring composer as well as she did, and having the whole of Spanish piano music in her experience base. This is a late recording of hers, filled with light, simplicity, and warmth.
Here are some comments by Gramophone magazine:
“As one who knew Mompou well and was the dedicatee of some of his pieces (including the Prelude No.11 which was written as a wedding present for her in 1949), Alicia de Larrocha is in an almost unique position as an interpreter of his music, of which she again shows herself here a splendid champion… Larrocha’s performances and the warm, natural recorded piano sounds are both in the highest class.”
……………………………………………..Gramophone Magazine, November 1994
Here is Stephen Hough playing Federico Mompou’s “Jeunes filles au jardin” as an encore following a performance of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle at the 2007 Waldbühne concert
And here is Alicia de Larrocha, who gave a wonderful joint recital with singer Montserrat Caballe in an all Federico Mompou program in Granada, on 20 June 1988. Here are several of the solo piano works de Larrocha played.
Impresiones íntimas:
- 1. “Planys”
- 2. “Pájaro triste”
- 3. “La barca”
- 4. “Secreto”
- 5. “Gitano”
And here are 9 more miniatures from this master of simplicity. This set is Mompou’s very first published work, played here in de Larrocha’s exquisite hands
Tags: Alicia de Larrocha, Federico Mompou, Cançons i danzas