Recordings of these substantial Spanish piano quintets are rare, and it's easy to see why: the characteristic Spanish traits that would define the music of both Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina are little in evidence here, although they do come through to an extent, especially in the slower sections. Each of these might be regarded as the first work of its composer's maturity; Turina's quintet, in fact, was designated as his Op. 1, with all his earlier works discarded. The Granados quartet has the higher opus number of 49, but it too marked a break with an earlier style. Granados was known as the Spanish Grieg early in his career, and it's an apt description for this melody-packed and atmospheric music. Turina's muscular piece will surprise those who know the composer only through his piano miniatures. He himself designated the work as "based on Beethovenian models," but despite the four-movement structure a better comparison might be César Franck. The work opens with a slow fugue -- interestingly, composed after the other movements -- that provides motivic and intervallic material for the music to come, and the overall atmosphere is dense, chromatic, and lush without being sentimental. The performances are Spanish to the core and are exceptionally good. The Cuarteto Quiroga is a new group officially charged with the curatorship of a group of Spanish Stradivari instruments (apparently not heard here), and they are a fine foil for the explosive young Andalusian pianist Javier Perianes. There's a delightful "Caliope" from later in Turina's career to bring down the curtain, and Harmonia Mundi's Teldex Studio sound here is really nonpareil. At the very least, this is a major expansion of the sparse Romantic piano quintet repertory.