This CD of works by Spanish composers for cello and piano, originally released in 1996, makes the rather out-of-date claim in its liner notes that these composers' works are largely unfamiliar. A visit to any music school recital hall will immediately disprove this theory, especially in regards to de Falla's Suite Populaire Espagnole and
Gaspar Cassado's Suite for Solo Cello (which, regrettably, is not included on this album). What we are given is a cross-section of Spanish cello music by five composers who were each born within five years of each other. The relationships between them range from father-son, teacher-student, and composer-transcriber; these close ties are at once observable in the similar treatment of the cello by each composer.
Performing these works is Romanian-born cellist
Emil Klein. Despite his successes in other performance areas, Spanish music is far from
Klein's forte. He and his accompanist, Sorin Melinte, play with virtually none of the nuance that distinguishes fine performances of this repertoire. Rhythms are very straight-laced throughout, there's little variation in accents or dynamics, and
Klein's sound throughout is extremely forced and nasal. What makes matters even worse is the surprisingly lazy attention to intonation; the false-harmonic introduction to Joaquin Cassado's Lo Fluviol, el Titit y l'Escarbat is the most glaring and disturbing example of this deficit. Even in the most frequently performed and popular work on the program, de Falla's Suite Populaire Espagnole,
Klein's playing remains extremely safe and bland despite the many opportunities de Falla gives cellists to show off some flair and panache.