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Dialogue at a Window

Donald Macleod explores Granados's masterpiece, the piano cycle Goyescas, inspired by the fifth of Goya's Caprichos.

Granados was drawn to the work of Goya at a time when Spain was searching its past for great figures, and struggling to redefine herself in the wake of military defeats. The fifth of Goya's Caprichos inspired the opening movement of Granados' masterpiece, the piano cycle Goyescas. The composer himself sketched the subject of the second movement, in which a man and woman are having a private conversation through a screen - the real-life inspiration behind this piece may have been Clotilde Godo, with whom Granados was having an intense affair.

1 hour

Music Played

  • Granados

    Serenata goyesca

    Performer: Douglas Riva (piano)

    • Naxos 8.554403.
  • Granados

    Quejas, o la maja y el ruisenor

    Performer: Kate Royal (sop)/ ASMF/ Edward Gardner (cond)

    • EMI 0946 3 94419 2.
  • Granados

    Libro de Horas (extract) - El invierno (La muerte del ruisenor)

    Performer: Thomas Rajna (piano)

    • CRD 3335.
  • Granados

    Escenas poeticas

    Performer: Thomas Rajna (piano)

    • CRD 3335.
  • Granados

    Goyescas: Los requiebros/ Coloquio en la reja

    Performer: Alicia de Larrocha (piano)

    • Decca 411 958-2.

Broadcasts

  • Wed 13 Apr 2011 12:00
  • Wed 13 Apr 2011 22:00

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