The
Devich Trio, consisting of a Hungarian pianist, a South African violinist, and a Dutch cellist, modestly proclaims that members "don't look half bad on stage" and recounts how their producer demanded more "oomph" from their performances while recording this album of Spanish chamber music of the early 20th century. Precision comes to mind as a word to describe their performances rather than the passion they claim to offer, but this is generally a well-executed and enjoyable program, drawn on the large well of Spanish music that lay neglected under modernist rule. The
Devich Trio in fact does best in the only lightly Spanish Circulo, Op. 91, of Joaquín Turina, composed in 1936. This little piece representing dawn, noon, and dusk (the latter delightfully rendering not the sun's sinking but the bustle of people released from work) makes a wonderful opener for any chamber concert, as indeed it does here. The closer is equally obscure and equally enjoyable: the Tres Piezas Originales en Estilo Español, Op. 1, of Enrique Fernández Arbós, are the oldest pieces on the program. They're something like Spanish counterparts to
Dvorák's Slavonic Dances, and they're given a sparkling performance here. The Trio of
Gaspar Cassadó and that composer's arrangement for trio of the Intermezzo from Granados' Goyescas are colorful works that may demand a bit more abandon than they are given here, but collectors of Spanish music will revel in some very nice finds here, the Turina above all. Notes are in English, German, and Dutch.