Enrique Granados’ life may have been cut short in 1916, at the age of only 49, but his music continues to age well. Granados is widely celebrated for his evocative aural postcards of his native Spain, most notably his collections of piano miniatures, the “Spanish Dances,” and “Goyescas” (the latter inspired by paintings of Francisco Goya). But there was so much more to this remarkable composer.
Join me this Thursday morning on WPRB, as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Granados’ birth. We’ll get the day started with a full five hours of his music, including an assortment of his rarely-heard orchestral, choral and chamber works, and, yes, even a recording of his one-act opera “Goyescas,” which the composer cannily adapted from his popular piano pieces.
Performers will include Ataulfa Argenta, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Maria Bayo, the Beaux Arts Trio, Montserrat Caballe, Alicia de Larrocha, Victoria de los Angeles, Andres Segovia, Ramón Vargas and Granados himself.
The playlist will also feature the rarely-heard symphonic poem “Dante,” and world premiere recordings of the “Suite on Galician Folk Songs,” “Song of the Stars,” and the lyric poem “Liliana,” as arranged by Granados’ friend and champion Pablo Casals.
If you’re a fan of fandangos with a craving for castanets, you’ll want to join me, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll do it up grand for Granados, on Classic Ross Amico.
