Granados Goyescas

I've not heard this work yet, and plan to rectify that problem very soon. Very high on my list of recordings to get is Michel Block's recording on Pro Piano. The Schumann and Chopin discs I've heard from this pianist are superb, and his '60s Iberia is highly touted by those who've heard it, so his Granados seems a good bet. Joyce Hatto's recording just received a glowing review in Gramophone, so that's another to consider.

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Todd, if you don't know this work you are in for a real treat. While I am unfamiliar with other works by Granados, based on this work alone, the music world suffered a great loss when Granados went down on the Sussex in WWI. I have just ordered Ralph Votapek's recording on Ivory Classics, which was favorably reviewed in Classics today and Amazon. If you like the piano version, I must say the Trio Campanella transcription for 3 guitars on Naxos is well worth exploring for a completely different take on this masterpiece.

Todd, I haven't heard any playing by Michael Block, so I ordered a couple of his ProPiano recordings(the Granados, and a CD of miscellaneous pieces including Scriabin, Bach, Brahms,Faure and Chopin). Couldn't pass them up at silly low Amazon second party prices. Look forward to listening to them.

Todd, speaking of ProPiano recordings one of my favorites on that label is by Sergey Barbayan playing the piano sonata of Carl Vine, and works by Ligetti and Messian. The Vine work is a fascinating modern piano sonata, with jazzy elements and all kinds of neat cross rhythms. You might try to seek this CD out. The pianist and the pieces are pretty special in my view.

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Originally posted by Oldnslow:
Todd, speaking of ProPiano recordings one of my favorites on that label is by Sergey Barbayan playing the piano sonata of Carl Vine, and works by Ligetti and Messian.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll probably be placing an order with ProPiano directly this spring, and I'll make sure to add this to the list. (Ordering from ProPiano results in a per-disc discount for each additional disc you buy.)

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I think I may have found a pretty ideal performance of Granados Goyescas. The disc is by Ralph Votapek on Ivory Classics. He has the technique and imagination to pull this piece off, and apparantly is kind of a specialist in Spanish music. He's in his 60's now, and has kept a rather low profile by teaching, I believe, at Michigan State. Very impressive indeed. This is my favorite recording of Goyescas, right up there with DeLarrocha. Fabulous sound, too. Highly recommended

Listened to the live 1981 Michael Block Goyescas recording on Pro Piano. Interesting performance, with some unusual tempo choices in several selections. Quite nice, but not in a league with Votapek, either interpretively, technically, or in sound quality. At this point, for me, Votapek rules, though I would like to hear Joyce Hatto's recently acclaimed version (I am totally unfamiliar with her playing). It's been fun listening to various recordings of this wonderful work. I can't get the melodies out of my head....

I ordered Joyce Hatto's version today from www.mdt.co.uk + her Albeniz' Iberia (which also got glowing reviews like the rest of her releases). I'm also mighty tempted by her Mozart piano sonatas and her Schubert D960 disc.

Anyone know if Hatto's CDs are distributed in the U.S.? They are not listed in Amazon.com or even in ArkivMusic...

Interestingly and timely, an article appears in Grammaphone website TODAY that many of Hattos CDs may have been copies of other pianists work. Apparantly this undiscovered great, who had a sever illness, may have been issuing recordings of other artists and passing them off as her own. She has been lauded by the British press as some kind of underground legend that nobody recognized, and now this is all being called into question. Fascinating story for sure. Methinks I shall hold off for awhile to see how this one shakes out....hehehe.

Wonder what pianist recorded "Hatto's" Goyescas--Ralph Votapek perhaps?......ok, ok I'll stop. I must say, however, that if this story pans out it will rank as one of the all time scandals in classical music, right up there with the lipsinking pop icons......

Joyce Hatto's CDs are not distributed in the US; they must be ordered from England. Her Mozart cycle is quite good, though not my favorite, and is in superb sound.

The rumors that Hatto didn't actually play everything attributed to her has circulated on the net for at least a year or two. Certainly the LvB disc, the Mozart sonata cycle, and the sampler disc outtakes share more than enough similarities in approach and sound to possibly be the same pianist. But the Gramophone article is interesting indeed. (Who could miss Yefim Bronfman, though; the Hatto discs I heard are quite different from that pianist.) Interesting. Makes me wonder who recorded all those other discs, and whether the disc information encoding system may be fallible. (Apparently another disc reviewed in Gramophone had just plain bad data, listing the wrong conductor.)


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I have also had CDs that were improperly encoded when I transfered them to my iPod. But very rarely. It seems more than odd that it would happen multiple times with the Hatto CDs and that the playing would be note for note from the encoded CD! But it also seems almost impossible that someone would try to pass off an orchestral recording (Rach piano concertos) from another artist. The whole thing is too weird. By the way, IPO says they will market Hatto CDs in the U.S. and will let me know when they begin. If this rumor is really true about falsification, however, I doubt there will be any Hatto CDs marketed anywhere for long....

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Originally posted by Oldnslow:
By the way, IPO says they will market Hatto CDs in the U.S. and will let me know when they begin.

Yeah, they've been saying that for a while - about a year, I believe. Interestingly enough, the Mozart sonata cycle I bought from England has IPO emblazoned on the box, yet I still had to import it.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the Hatto Affair (as I think it is fair to call it now). If Concert Artists is in any way involved in fraudulent recordings, my guess is they'll be driven out of business by lawsuits soon enough.


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If Hatto and her husband really pirated recordings from other artists and passed them off as their own, and it appears more and more likely to be the case, I think you might find more than lawsuits at issue. I think the husband will be asked to come down to the precinct, and Inspector Tennison will ask him a few questions in the presence of his solicitor.....

Apparantly Hatto's husband, Mr. Barrington-Coupe (Don't you just love those hyphenated English names...) has a prior conviction for fraud. Game over.