The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 65 - Albéniz & Granados: Piano Concertos - Melani Mestre, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins

Piano Concerto No 1 in A minor 'Concierto fantástico' Op 78[27'50]Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909), arr. Tomás Bretón (1850-1923)
1
Allegro ma non troppo[13'07]
2
Rêverie et Scherzo: Andante – Presto[7'11]
3
Allegro[7'32]
4
Rapsodia española Op 70[13'14]Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Piano Concerto in C minor 'Patético'[35'54]Enrique Granados (1867-1916) & Melani Mestre (b1976)
5
Lento grave e quasi recitativo – Allegro grave non molto lento[18'36]
6
Allegretto (Danza española No 2: Orientale & Capricho español)[8'33]
7
Molto allegro (Allegro de concierto)[8'45]

Volume 65 (have you got them all?) of Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series journeys to Spain and the heart-on-sleeve world there to be found. The Albéniz Concierto fantástico owes much to Schumann and Chopin, albeit with an added drizzle of the Iberian peninsula; the perennially popular Rapsodia española, on the other hand, throws all such classical models to the wind.

Granados never actually got round to writing his piano concerto, so our pianist here—Hyperion debutant Melani Mestre—has done it for him. And it’s a romp. The first movement is pretty much ‘echt’, from Granados’ sketches for a putative piano concerto, but thereafter it’s a hugely enjoyable what-if …