Benita Meshulam - Manuel de Falla: Complete Piano Music (2009)

Benita Meshulam has an affinity for Iberian music, and this two-disc set is her interpretation of the music of Manuel de Falla. It includes Falla's original works for piano as well as his transcriptions of a few of his works for orchestra or other instruments. What comes out most in Meshulam's performance is the enormous influence that French composers had on Falla. She plays with a generally calm demeanor, even in the dances from Falla's stage works, which brings out the colors in the harmonies of the music, so that instead of vivid, showy dances, these are more translucent and evocative. That Impressionistic sound is especially evident in the shorter works, such as the Mazurka and Nocturno. The Canto de los remeros del Volga is Falla's setting of the Russian folk song using the modal harmonies of Debussy. The larger pieces, the Fantasía Baetica and the Allegro de concierto, show the influence of the orchestral writing of Saint-Saëns and Chabrier as much as the influence of Spanish folk music. Meshulam plays Andaluza with dense drama, but otherwise shies away from being extravagantly theatrical in favor of an expression that is more suggestive of emotions, which fits with the sound of the pieces. Hers is a more sultry than fiery Falla.