These two volumes cover Montsalvatge’s works for piano and voice, and form part of the Montsalvatge Edition, Columna Música’s survey of the composer’s entire output. Much of what these two volumes contain is not otherwise available, which would be reason enough to be grateful; that the performances themselves are generally excellent merely provides another.

Like many of his works, Montsalvatge’s songs show a marked French influence while demonstrating an ability to create a specific mood or atmosphere through contrasting faux naïf melodic material with often sophisticated rhythms, harmonies and textures. Marisa Martins’s languid yet unsentimental approach perfectly suits Montsalvatge’s writing: compare her consciously centred rendering of Cançó amorosa with her dreamy sensuality in the popular Canción para dormir un negrito.

Rosa Mateu adopts a similar standpoint: listen to how her attractive mezzo caresses the delicate arpeggios of the opening Si et ferissis or drifts ghostlike through the tonal ambiguities of La Vierge Couronnée. Antoni Comas for his part is understandably more forthright, more ‘operatic’, in the transcriptions of arias from Montsalvatge’s operas Una voce in off and Babel 46. All are ably supported by the sensitive playing of accompanist Mac McClure, who is also co-ordinator for the Montsalvatge Edition.

Packaging is attractive, notes and texts well laid out despite some infelicities in the English translations (and while on the subject, you’ll have to download the song translations for Volume 2 from Columna Música’s website). I found the recordings a little over-reverberant for the intimate nature of some songs but this is certainly no barrier to the considerable enjoyment to be derived.