Ginastera, Alberto - Estancia / Variaciones concertantes / Harp Concerto - Pons, Josep (conductor)
Magdalena Barrera, harp
Orquestra Ciudad de Granada / Josep Pons
Alberto Ginastera, 'the great hope of Argentine music' (Aaron Copland), wrote in every genre. 'Estancia' uses the elements of his national folklore (melody, rhythms, tonality) to depict rural life in Argentina, work on the land and the life of gauchos. The more abstract 'Variaciones concertantes' offer a synthesis of art and folk music.
"What makes this spectacularly engineered Harmonia Mundi disc especially attractive is the inclusion of the Variaciones concertantes, arguably the masterpiece of Ginastera's nationalist period. Pons chooses some extreme speeds, often pushing his first-desk players to great feats of virtuosity, yet there is plenty of character, too." Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone, April 2004