Espana.(Sound recording review)

Espana. Ataulfo Argenta, London Symphony Orchestra. LIM XR24 016.

Originally recorded by Decca in 1956, this classic album with conductor Ataulfo Argenta has the distinction of being one of the best collections of Spanish-inflected music ever produced, yet of the four composers represented, only one is actually Spanish. No matter. You don't have to be American to enjoy a hot dog. The Russian, German, and French composers do just as well by the music as the Spaniard.

Things begin with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, a lively and colorful piece that has seen hundreds of interpretations but none quite so affecting as here. On a rival XRCD from JVC, Kiril Kondrashin directs a more flamboyant, more purely exciting account, but Argenta imbues the music with an enjoyably relaxed tone. Not that the big, dramatic moments don't come to the fore under Argenta; they do. But the lighter, more reflective interludes are well captured as well. This is followed by Enrique Granados's brief Andaluza, Danza Espanola No. 5, which comes almost as a lullaby after RimskyKorsakov's more ornate work. Then there is probably the most-famous piece of Spanish music ever written, Espana, by the Frenchman Emmanuel Chabrier. No complaints here; Argenta's reading is one of the two or three best available, and, ironically, the best recorded. Finally, there are Five Spanish Dances ...