Granados: Goyescas / El Pelele (arr. for 3 guitars)

"Enrique Granados is today best remembered for his piece for solo piano, Goyescas: The Majos in Love. The work, which evokes the life and times of the great Spanish painter Goya, is here transcribed for three guitars by Christophe Dejour, who performs it with his partners in Trio Campanella, Franck Massa and Thomas Winthereik. So successful is his transcription that we quickly forget the original piano work, and become immersed in this world of eloquent, plangent Spanish guitar. The pieces are performed with great tenderness, but also with expressive brio, even outright swagger. The six pieces making up Goyescas are here supplemented by another work by Granados inspired by goya, el Pelele (The Straw Man). It shares the same care in transcription which makes these performances worthwhile in their own right, as evocative complements to the original work. Naxos found a wonderful venue for this 2006 recording: the Torpen Chapel in Denmark. The acoustic result is astonishing. The chapel provides tactile warmth and resonance, while the engineers have captured the full dynamism of the instruments, from the deepest rich bass notes to the highest plucked notes. Trio Campanella seems to play as a single person, with its six hands creating richer textures than a single player could produce. We're not swamped with over-elaboration of Granados' original themes; these are deceptively simple arrangements which get to the heart of the music. Lovers of guitar and lovers of Granados have equal cause to rejoice." Limelight