Conti, Mirian: Dances Of Spain

Album review

The music on Mirian Conti's Danzas Fantásticas recording spans a period of over 60 years, from approximately 1887 to 1951. Her choice of music and her performance bring out remarkable similarities between works, which contradicts the image of the first half of the twentieth century as a time of widening diversity in music. The country of origin and the rhythms and harmonies of Spanish folk music, naturally, unite these pieces. But they all also seem to share a rich colorfulness and an evocative, daydream-like atmosphere. Even at their fieriest, Conti has a carefree way with them that brings to mind freeform ballet. Surinach's 1951 Trois Chansons et Danses Espagnoles, the most adventuresome work, doesn't stray too far from the tonal palette of the rest of the program and still has those recognizably Spanish rhythms. Conti's performance of Orgia from Turina's Danzas Fantásticas, is intense and passionate, yet is a stylization of a dance that could easily be rawer and more primitive. She enjoys this music and it shows in the fluidity of her playing, both in the effortlessness with which she handles the spicier technicalities and her use of rubato that always seems to have potential energy hidden in it. The sound of the recording could be a just a bit more resonant, allowing the music to breathe a little more fully and add to the fantastic character of it.
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