UPC 077776474625

Spanish critics have long hailed Gonzalo Soriano's two recordings of Nights in the Gardens of Spain--this one from 1962 and an earlier effort with Ataulfo Argenta--as among the finest readings of the score ever committed to disc. It's easy to see why. Soriano brings to bear a conception that is firm, detailed, and energetic and plays the piece with real flair. His partner on the podium, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, only 28 years old when the recording was made, sparks a magnificent account from the Paris Conservatory Orchestra: masculine, evocative, and glowingly ardent despite occasional problems with intonation in the horns and low strings. For this most impressionistic of Falla's scores, it's an ideal sound. The companion pieces, Falla's El Amor Brujo and a suite from The Three-Cornered Hat (not the complete ballet), are masterfully rendered by Carlo Maria Giulini and the Philharmonia Orchestra. --Ted Libbey