More of the music of Isaac Albeniz 

More Albeniz / Falla / Granados / Spain / Reiner 

A distinguished member of the Better Records Orchestral Music Hall of Fame. 

Spain has been an audiophile favorite for a very long time. Everybody should know it by now, what with both Chesky and Classic Records remastering it in the ’90s, dismally of course, as neither of these companies showed the slightest sense that they understood how lackluster, if not downright awful, the products of their efforts turned out.

No doubt Analogue Productions will see fit to ruin the recording the way they ruined Scheherazade.

Side One

The second piece on side one has very dynamic sound. There is the usual Living Stereo compression at work when the music is at its loudest but it does not seem to be nearly the problem that it often is on other RCA recordings.

Side Two

Similar sound. Again the second piece is big, rich, open and very clear.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Enrique Granados – Goyescas: Intermezzo 
Manuel De Falla – La Vida Breve: Intermezzo & Dance 
Manuel De Falla – Dances From “The Three Cornered Hat”

Side Two

Isaac Albéniz – Iberia: Navarra 
Isaac Albéniz – Iberia: Fete-Dieu A Seville
Isaac Albéniz – Iberia: Triana

AMG Review

Since its early beginnings in 1953, RCA’s Living Stereo sound has remained one of the most satisfying sound reproduction techniques, capturing the lush timbres and fiery characters of some of America’s greatest orchestras and conductors. This particular album features the music of Spanish composers de Falla, Albéniz, and Granados with the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner. The orchestra brilliantly captures the sultry, sassy flair of El amor brujo. Together with soprano Leontyne Price — whose penetrating, throaty sound is ideally suited for this work — Reiner and the CSO deliver a performance that draws listeners in from the beginning and leaves them wanting more by the end.