Albeniz: Suite Espanola (180g LP)

Label: Speakers Corner reissue ( Decca SXL 6355)
(Transcription by Fruhbeck de Burgos) – New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos

This is real light music of the best kind.
Tuneful, exotically scored (by the conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos), and giving orchestra and recording engineers alike a chance to show their paces, the Suite Española makes highly entertaining listening. We are given here seven pieces from Albeniz’s original piano suite plus Cordoba, which is from the same composer’s Cantos de Espana. As this has a very fetching tune to end the record graciously, no one is likely to complain. But try the opening Castile for its glittering castanets or the Asturias with its eloquent and sonorous brass chords to offset the flurry of strings. This is a demonstration disc par excellence.