Customer Reviews

Panorama: Viva Espana

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The Panorama series on DG discs offers listeners a chance to explore unfamiliar pieces without breaking the bank. It's rare that DG releases disappointing performances -- if anything, it is the composition itself that winds up disappointing!

Among the Panoramas, the 'Viva Espana' collection is one of the top choices. A marketing concept, this one? Not at all. The liner notes make this clear: Even more than Italy, the Spanish tableau inspired wildly romantic, spirited music. Spain was in vogue not just among the impressionist camp (Ravel, who had Basque parentage, Debussy, et al.), but beyond. As you'll note, Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov figure on this collection too, alongside the local figures like Tarrega, Turina, Albeniz, Falla and Granados and the French (Ravel, Debussy, Chabrier, Bizet). They have widely varied visions of the Spanish landscape, and that's what's so revealing about this Panorama set.

It is also among the most consistently enjoyable. The formulaic moments are few and far between. Even better, the Maazel BPO performance from 1959 of Rimsky-Korsakov's rousing Capriccio espagnol, is among the best ever put on record.

Why not 5 stars? Well, the set could have been more generous -- a Viva Espana 1 & 2, perhaps. Volume 1 for the Spanish composers, and 2 for the continentals. There are 8 complete compositions here, but the Debussy, Falla and Granados are just whole movement excerpts from longer pieces. For a dedicated classical audience, that's filler, even if it makes for great listening.