Cristina Ortiz (piano)
The Complete Recordings on Warner Classics
rec. 1973-1980
Warner Classics 2685494951 [11 CDs: 579]
This 11-CD box of Warner (ex-EMI) recordings celebrates the art of the Brazilian pianist, Cristina Ortiz, in discs made from 1973-1980. It’s released just a year after she celebrated her 75th birthday.
I must admit that I hadn’t come across many of these recordings before as their dates correspond to the time I was at school and so it was a pleasure and something of a voyage of discographic discovery making their acquaintance. The only ones I did know where her ‘bit part’ appearances on discs by Poulenc, Gershwin and Constant Lambert, which may say something about EMI’s use of her. Most of the discs – eight out of eleven: CDs 1, 3, 5-6 and 8-11 – have been remastered by Art et Son so these have never been reissued over the years, as far as I’m aware.
Lambert’s The Rio Grande was in fact her first recording, but the set opens with ‘Brazilian Soul’, an evocative, rhythmically vivid slice from her home country’s extrovert repertoire that includes a most sympathetic Villa-Lobos A prole do bebê No.1, and a zesty smattering of Fructuoso Vianna, Leopoldo Miguez, Camargo Guarnieri and Oscar Lorenzo Fernández. CD 2 charts her Shostakovich Concerto recordings with Paavo Berglund in Bournemouth which were remastered for the Berglund EMI/Warner box in 1987. These have always been very recommendable versions and are played eloquently and conducted warmly. It was unfortunate both for Ortiz and Berglund that in the domestic British market, at least, they were soon to be challenged and supplanted by Dmitri Alexeev’s recordings with the English Chamber Orchestra and Jerzy Maksymiuk. However, as a bonus Ortiz plays the Three Fantastic Dances, Op.5.
The next disc sees her collaboration with the New Philharmonia Orchestra and Kazuhiro Koizumi. Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is played with clarity and directness, neither over-pedalled not over-ripely romanticised. Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Song is playful and textually clean and eminently satisfying. The contents of three LPs are presented on CD 4. There’s a superbly effective recording of Poulenc’s Piano Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Louis Frémaux in 1976 – it’s also in the Warner Frémaux box. It was coupled with the Gloria. ‘Previn conducts Gershwin’ is the name of the disc that included the ‘symphonic picture’ Porgy and Bess and the Cuban Overture. Ortiz and Previn deliver a fine Second Rhapsody. The Rio Grande, again with Previn, was coupled with Walton’s Symphony No.2 in which the Lambert sat quixotically but with vitalising richness and fervour. These are in the Previn Warner box.
Prokofiev occupies the next disc, a mix of bits-and-pieces and the (complete) Ten Pieces from ‘Romeo and Juliet’. She plays extracted movements from Cinderella as well as an assured Romeo. The title of the album was ‘Highlights from the Ballets’. CD 6 is called ‘Cristina Ortiz plays Music for Children’ but the repertoire is nutritious and cleverly contrastive. Debussy’s Children’s Corner may be the most obvious choice but reminds us that the following decade she was to record an album of ‘French Impressionist Piano Music’ containing Debussy, Poulenc and Ravel. She plays selections here from Khachaturian and Mompou – full of colour and warmth – Prokofiev’s Tales of an Old Grandmother, which draws from her admirable weight and freshness- and Ibert’s limpid, charming Histoires.
In 1977 she recorded an all-Villa-Lobos album, taping Bachianas Brasileiras No.3 and Mômoprecóce with the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, who must be making one of his earliest appearances on disc as a conductor. Her playing is vivid, rhythmically flexible and strongly colouristic but there are moments when her collaboration with Ashkenazy seems a little adrift. As a solo pianist once again, she scores highly in ‘Spanish Soul’, a disc of selections from Albéniz, Falla, Granados and Turina. It’s a shame that she could not record the whole of Albéniz’s Cantos de España nor Iberia and was limited to just five pieces from Granados’ Danzas españolas but she plays Falla’s flamenco study Fantasia Betica conspicuously well.
Franck’s Piano Quintet sees her teamed with the Medici String Quartet for an aptly passionate performance. At 37 minutes it offers the shortest measure in this set. It’s also superior to her rather heavier remake for Naxos with the Fine Arts Quartet. CD 10 has Chopin’s Ballades, Polonaise No. 6 “Heroic” and Fantaisie-impromptu. These are rather variable interpretatively. Her Grieg Concerto was again accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy. It’s a civilized, level-headed interpretation that avoids bombast as indeed is the piece with which the set ends, Franck’s Symphonic Variations.
This is an admirable salute to a fine musician and is graced with fine notes, and where there are such, excellent remasterings.
Jonathan Woolf
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Contents
CD 1 ‘Brazilian Soul (Alma Brasileira)’ Villa-Lobos, Vianna, Miguez, Guarnieri, Fernández Solo Piano Works
CD 2 Shostakovich Concertos for Piano; Three Fantastic Dances (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund)
CD 3 Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Dohnányi Variations on a Nursery Song (New Philharmonia Orchestra, Kazuhiro Koizumi)
CD 4 Poulenc Piano Concerto (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Louis Frémaux); Gershwin Second Rhapsody; Lambert The Rio Grande (London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn)
CD 5 Prokofiev Highlights from Cinderella & Romeo and Juliet
CD 6 ‘Pictures of Childhood’ Debussy, Khachaturian, Mompou, Prokofiev, Ibert Solo Piano Works
CD 7 Villa-Lobos Bachianas brasileiras No. 3; Mômoprecóce (New Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy)
CD 8 ‘Spanish Soul’ Albéniz, Falla, Granados, Turina Solo Piano Works
CD 9 Franck Piano Quintet (Medici String Quartet)
CD 10 Chopin 4 Ballades; Polonaise No. 6 “Heroic”; Fantaisie-impromptu
CD 11 Grieg Piano Concerto; Franck Symphonic Variations; Les Djinns (Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy)
