Alicia de Larrocha, that incomparable interpreter of the Spanish repertoire, is revisiting many of her favourite musical haunts on RCA (this is at least her third recording of Granados’s 12 Danzas, and her second of the Valses poeticos). And if some of her former edge and fire, her tonal and stylistic luxuriance are now replaced by more ‘contained’ and reflective qualities, her warmth and affection remain undimmed. Her rubato, while less lavishly deployed than before, is potent and alluring, as instantly recognizable as ever, and each and every dance is played with rare naturalness, ease and authority. True, the “Rondella aragonesa” is less thrilling in its dizzying acceleration than on her earlier Erato (6/72 – nla) and Decca discs, the swaying rhythms of the “Sardana” less seductive. But if (rather as in Rubinstein’s later Chopin) a touch of sobriety occasionally blunts the fullest impact of these fascinating, most aristocratic idealizations of local Spanish life and colour, the actual playing is never less than masterly.
The Valses poeticos are offered as an engaging encore (why are these delectable miniatures not in the repertoire of every romantically inclined pianist?) and although, again, less open-hearted than on a long-deleted American Epic disc (never released in Britain) they are none the less as crisp in definition as they are sympathetic in character. The recordings have much less range and reverberance than those on Decca and the presentation is unpleasantly commercial. But all lovers of this still misunderstood and neglected repertoire, played by one of the great pianists of our time, will want to add this to their collection.'