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Track(s) taken from CDA67846

El pelele 'Escena goyesca'

composer
circa 1913; first performed in Terrassa on 29 March 1914 by the composer

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
Recording details: June 2011
Henry Wood Hall, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Andrew Keener
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: February 2012
Total duration: 4 minutes 24 seconds

Cover artwork: The Parasol (1777). Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
Prado, Madrid / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Not to be missed … a superb evocation of Spain, especially The Maiden and the Nightingale, which is among the most treasurable piano pieces ever written. Ohlsson … sounds totally convincing’ (The Mail on Sunday)

‘You can't go far wrong with Ohlsson, who could hardly be more affecting in Quejas, o La maja y el ruiseñor or more able to express the dark and glittering hearts of both El amor y la muerte and Epílogo, serenata del espectro’ (Gramophone)

‘Ohlsson is very much the performer for the heart of the work … his feeling for the constant fluctuations of pace and mood infuses The Maiden with the Nightingale, right through to its wonderfully delicate birdsong fantasy … rounded off by the brighter energies of El pelele and the spectacular Allegro de concierto, this makes a fine, warmly recorded all-Granados disc’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The style of the piano writing can be traced back to Chopin and Liszt. It's that side of Granados' music that is brought out in Garrick Ohlsson's technically immaculate performances’ (The Guardian)

‘Recording engineer David Hinitt achieves truly sumptuous results. The piano sound has tremendous amplitude and richness … Ohlsson excels when Granados asks for wit or overt technical display’ (International Record Review)

‘The music is a series of romantic evocations, taking inspiration from folk melody and dance as much as the characters and scenes depicted by the great painter. Ohlsson captures their flavour with virtuosic flair’ (Financial Times)
El pelele (‘The straw man’), subtitled ‘Escena goyesca’, is usually programmed along with the suite. The influence of Scarlatti is especially marked here, in the sheer delight Granados takes in sensual virtuosity and irrepressible bonhomie. The pelele was a life-size straw man that young women enjoyed tossing up in the air, using a blanket that they held at the corners as a kind of trampoline. Goya portrayed the scene unforgettably in one of his tapestry cartoons, and the giddy exuberance of this music makes El pelele one of Granados’s most memorable compositions. Granados premiered it at a concert in Terrassa on 29 March 1914. In fact, the term ‘Goyescas’ encompasses all of Granados’s piano works inspired by the artist, not only the suite. In addition to El pelele, other ‘Goyescas’ include Jácara (Danza para cantar y bailar), Serenata goyesca, Crepúsculo and Reverie-Improvisation (a recording he made for Duo-Art in New York shortly before his death).

from notes by Walter Aaron Clark © 2012
author of Enrique Granados: Poet of the Piano (Oxford, 2006/2011)

El pelele («Le pantin»), sous-titré «Escena goyesca», est généralement programmé avec la suite. L’influence de Scarlatti est particulièrement palpable dans le véritable plaisir que Granados prend à la virtuosité sensuelle et à une irrépressible bonhomie. Le pelele était un pantin grandeur nature que de jeunes femmes s’amusaient à faire sauter en l’air, dans une couverture qu’elles tenaient aux coins, comme un trampo­line. De cette scène, Goya fit un inoubliable carton de tapisserie et, par son exubérance étourdissante, cet El pelele est l’une des plus mémorables compositions de Granados. Granados la créa lors d’un concert à Terrassa, le 29 mars 1914. En réalité, le terme «Goyescas» englobe toutes les œuvres pianistiques—et pas seulement la suite—que Goya inspira à Granados, comme El pelele mais aussi Jácara (Danza para cantar y bailar), Serenata goyesca, Crepúsculo et Reverie-Improvisation (un enregistrement qu’il réalisa pour Duo-Art, à New York, peu avant de mourir).

extrait des notes rédigées par Walter Aaron Clark © 2012
Français: Hypérion

El pelele („Die Strohpuppe“), das den Untertitel „Escena goyesca“ trägt, wird normalerweise zusammen mit der Suite vorgetragen. Der Einfluss Scarlattis ist hier in der Freude, die Granados an sinnlicher Virtuosität und unbändiger Bonhomie hat, besonders deutlich. Ein pelele war eine lebensgroße männliche Strohpuppe, die von jungen Frauen in die Luft geschleudert wurde, wobei sie eine Decke zu Hilfe nahmen, die sie sozusagen als Trampolin benutzten und an den Zipfeln festhielten. Goya stellte eine solche Szene unvergesslich in einem seiner Tapisseriekartons dar und die schwindelerregende Ausgelassenheit dieser Musik macht El pelele zu einer der denkwürdigsten Kompositionen von Granados. Granados führte es erstmals am 29. März 1914 bei einem Konzert in Terrassa auf. Tatsächlich umfasst der Ausdruck „Goyescas“ alle Klavierwerke Granados’, die von dem Künstler inspiriert waren, nicht nur die Suite. Neben El pelele sind weitere „Goyescas“ Jácara (Danza para cantar y bailar), Serenata goyesca, Crepúsculo und Reverie-Improvisation (eine Aufnahme, die er für Duo-Art in New York kurz vor seinem Tod machte).

aus dem Begleittext von Walter Aaron Clark © 2012
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

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