Balada Mexicana : Piano Music (1994)/ Ponce, Manuel Maria ; Osorio, Jorge Federico

Mexican composer Manuel Ponce (1882-1948) is known outside Mexico mostly for his guitar music and for the popular song Estrellita, which like other Latin American evergreens existed in various forms and is heard here in a lovely piano version. In his own time he was a renowned piano recitalist and teacher, and he wrote more than 100 pieces of piano music. There is a seven-disc complete set of them by pianist Hector Rojas, and they are sometimes heard on anthologies. This single-disc program by Jorge Federico Osorio strikes a happy medium, introducing the listener to attractive selections by Ponce in various genres. Most of Ponce's piano music dates from early in his career, but at the end of the disc are two extremely distinctive etudes for piano dedicated to Artur Rubinstein that date from Ponce's later residence in Paris and show the influence of French Impressionism. (...)|