El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) (1918-19)
Noches en los jardines de Espana (Nights in the Gardens of Spain) (1909-1916)
Seven Spanish Folksongs (1914) - Orchestrated by Luciano Berio

There was a time, roughly 40 to 50 years ago, back when record labels were all vying for top spot, when the music of Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) was in high profile. Be it orchestral, solo piano and especially guitar, top rank artists and musicians would include at least one of his works as part of a new recording. Nowadays, it's as if the composer's name has fallen out of favor. So it's certainly nice to see a new recording devoted entirely to three of his most esteemed works.

The Three-Cornered Hat, from which the Final Dance is often extracted and performed as a stand-alone orchestral showpiece, is a ballet based on a play by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, about everyday village life set in an Andalusian setting. Its premiere, with choreography by Léonide Massine, sets and costumes designed by Pablo Picasso, was quite the social event of the day. It eschews flamenco elements in favor of more traditional Spanish folklore songs, lending everything a rich melodic tapestry, adorned with seguidilla and fandango dance rhythms for balletic movement and flow. Dutch conductor Jac van Steen and Ireland's Ulster Orchestra well convey the rich Hispanic tapestry within the music.

A piano concerto if not by name, Nights in the Gardens of Spain which was ascribed the subtitle "symphonic impressions for piano and orchestra" by Manuel de Falla himself, could best be described as the Spanish counterpart to Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome as its three individual movements are like tone poem representations of noteworthy Spanish landscapes. Manuel de Falla's cosmopolitanism is on full display here, with the Spanish elements of the music being descriptive rather than elemental. Some of the piano passages, as in a concerto, demand technical flair from the performer, and Brazilian pianist Clélia Iruzun is more than up to the task. Her graceful phrasing, runs and arpeggios echo the faint nocturnal sounds of a distant brook, or winds rushing through the trees, and paint a highly evocative canvas.