Goyescas

Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Gustavo Pena, Lidia Vinyes Curtis, Jose Antonio Lopez & BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Josep Pons

Enrique Granados' famous opera 'Goyescas', first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1916, derives from the piano suite premiered in Paris two years previously. At the head of a BBCSO in top form and a handpicked cast, Josep Pons clearly much enjoyed conducting this sparkling new production in London. Many scenes in the opera draw their inspiration directly from paintings by Goya, which listeners will also have the pleasure of discovering in the booklet of this rare and precious album.

Granados:
 Goyescas (opera)

"This performance…is excellent in every respect. José Antonio López oozes braggadocio as the majo Paquiro…Fabiola Herrera sounds neither as youthful nor ingenuous as María Bayo…but her creamy tone suggests regal bearing and her entreaties in the love duet convey considerable ardour…The tight vibrato in Gustavo Pena’s upper register gives his voice an attractive glint and he phrases intelligently, playing effectively with light and shade…Pons wrings a fair amount of drama from the score."
Gramophone Magazine - July 2019

"This live recording from an accomplished BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Josep Pons reveals the opera to be really a work of two parts…The cast acquit themselves well, if not with persuasively fandango passion. Granados’s thick scoring sometimes clogs the action but, nonetheless, it’s in the sweeping orchestral interludes that he shines brightest here."
BBC Music Magazine - August 2019 (Performance ***) / (Recording ****)