Maya Villanueva - Falla le parisien (2023) Hi-Res

By placing the melodies and certain pieces for solo piano in perspective, this recording illustrates the evolution of Falla's language (1876-1946), from a post-romanticism inherited from Albéniz to a resolutely modern, almost "impressionist" language closer to Debussy, Dukas or Ravel. It's a veritable aesthetic voyage through Falla's life.

The Parisian period is the ferment of this evolution. Falla arrived in Paris in 1907, expecting to stay for just a few weeks, but he stayed for seven years! Through his many artistic encounters and friendships (Debussy, Ravel, Dukas, Delage, to name but a few), his Parisian life enriched his musical aesthetic, stripping it of its sentimental excesses in favor of a sharper, sharper evocation of Spain, reminiscent of Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso and Debussy's La Puerta del Vino.

The seven chansons populaires espagnoles, as well as Andaluza from Quatres pièces espagnoles for solo piano, are peaks of this aesthetic. The musicologist of the time, Louis Aguettant, said of the Quatres pièces espagnoles: "There is something of the French neatness here, an art of perfect style". Falla's intimacy with France and its composers is epitomized by the Trois mélodies on poems by Théophile Gautier, in French of course, the third piece of which, Seguidille, is dedicated "to Madame Claude Debussy".