Nancy Allen, Lisa Hansen, Jorge Federico Osorio, Deborah Mariotti, Alfonso Moreno, Agustin Leon Ara, Minerva Garibay, Cecilia Lopez - The Rodrigo Edition (4 CDs): Concertos & Orchestral Works Conducted by Enrique Batiz

breaking no new ground but highly enjoyable, highly accessible, full of lush melodies and colorfully orchestrated

This set has now been licensed and reissued by Brilliant Classics, a cheapo-cheapo label from Europe, and this is how I have purchased, heard and reviewed it: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Concertos; Orchestral Works [Box Set]. I refer you to this review for more details. In capsule, the music breaks no grounds, old or new, but it is highly enjoyable, highly accessible, full of lush melodies and colorfully orchestrated. The language is that of the post-Debussy/Ravel "musique française" and "musique espagnole" written in the first half of the 20th by composers such as Sauguet, Milhaud, Ibert or Falla, with late-Romantic outbursts pointing to British composers like Delius or Bax.

The universal fame acquired by the Ajanjuez Concerto and Rodrigo's other Concertos for Guitar(s) has overshadowed the fact that he wrote a number of concertos for other solo instruments: flute, harp, piano, cello and violin. Missing from this compilation are some of his more recent pieces, such as the Concierto como un divertimento for Cello, Concierto para une fiesta for Guitar, as well as the early Juglares for Piano and Orchestra (1923); there is also apparently a version for Guitar of the "Heroic" Piano Concerto.

Among my favorites is the "Summer" Concerto for Violin, a composition I've enjoyed ever since hearing a French archive broadcast concert of Christian Ferras and the Orchestre National conducted by Ataulfo Argenta giving the French premiere in 1953. Ferras made the premiere recording shortly thereafter with his teacher and mentor George Enescu conducting, a recording aptly reissued by Testament with other early concerto recordings by Ferras (Rodrigo: Concierto de estio; Semenoff; Double Concerto; Elizalde; Violin Concerto). It is as joyful and colorful as thoses of Khatchaturian and Prokofiev - and, in my opinion, not inferior to them; I wonder why it hasn't acquired the same pride of place at the core of the Violin repertoire, in concert and on disc.

I also greatly enjoyed the Cello Concerto ("Concierto en modo galante"), with its first movement sounding like a modernized Vivaldi cello Concerto or Bach seen through the eyes of Stravinsky, its center part a wistful, brooding, meditative cantilena with a pastoral trio full of bird calls, hurdy-gurdy tunes and lifting country dances, its finale a kind of galant Cucarracha, and again a colorful and perky orchestration, full of sardonic skids out of line.

The last disc is devoted to Rodrigo's symphonic output, with tone poems composed between 1925 and 1976. Again they are very enjoyable, couched in the same kind of post-Debussy/Ravel language with whiffs of late-Romanticism evocative of Delius or Bax. In fact, "Musica para un jardin" (Music for a Garden) and "A la busca del mas allà" (In Search of the Beyond) could easily pass of for additions to Jacques Ibert's "Ports of Call".

The 2nd of the Piezas Infantiles from 1925, "Despues de un cuento" sounds exactly in the same style as the 1976 "A la busca del mas alla". Apparently Rodrigo is one of those composers who never evolved, writing in the last decades of the 20th century the same kind of impressionistic music that wasn't so cutting edge anymore even when he started writing it in its first decades. But now that the distance of time has reduced all the smoldering stylistic controversies to cold ashes, we can enjoy Rodrigo's music for what it offers, regardless of when it was written: its unabashed lyricism, its soaring melodies, its sense of color.

At that price, this is no doubt the best possible introduction to the music of Rodrigo. October 3, 2007

Batiz dirige obras de Rodrigo

Antes que el sello Naxos grabara las obras de Rodrigo,
estaba esta grabaccion, la que era y aun es recomendada.
Batiz es un gran exponente de la musica de Rodrigo,
aclamado por el mismo compositor, Batiz dirige las
obras de Rodrigo con claridad, y a la vez mantiene
las obras con el espiritu original que el compositor
expresa. En esta grabaccion el maestro Batiz dirige
tres orquestas:la Royal Philharmonic, London Symphony;
y Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico. Los
unicos conciertos que aqui no aparecen son: Concierto
para una Fiesta, y Concierto como un Divertimento.
Una grabaccion de recomendaccion maxima... November 15, 2005

A great introduction to Rodrigo!

I had much of this material on vinyl, and it's great to have these packaged on 4 full budget-priced CDs. The sound is quite acceptable, although a little bright, which was common for early digital recordings from the 80's. But, they're otherwise clear and full. There are better recordings of the guitar concertos (which is a crowded field), but they hold up fairly well - and are better than Batiz' rerecordings of the some of the guitar concertos he did some 10 years ago on ASV.
The other concertos are quite nice as well. Distinctively Rodrigo-esque!
Anyone interested in this set will want to invest in Batiz' more recent survey with his Mexican State Orchestra of Rodrigo works.
Highly recommended! February 11, 2004

Blind Can Hear...

This is an album dedicated to the works of one of the most prominent Spanish composers of the 20th Century. His music is luscious, melodic, with uncompromised energy and excitement. Rodrigo was blind and had a love affair with the Concerto form, and this is Batiz's dedication to the man and his many works in that form.

I too disagree with the reviewer who said the recording was muddy. I think it captures the music well, and all of the soloists come out as intended in the score. I think the balance and tone are wonderful. I hope that helps! February 13, 2003

Excellent Rodrigo compendium.

This is great music, with great performances, on a very good recording. (I disagree with the other online reviewer--to me the soloists sound crisp and rich.) September 20, 1999

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