Lionel Salter gave Vol 1 of Jordi Maso's Mompou cycle the warmest of welcomes (3/99) and Vol 2 is no disappointment, either. Once again everything is presented with an exemplary, crystalline clarity, and if the manner is unusually robust it is never less than musicianly. Directions such as energiquement and tres clair (Prelude No 2), the forte climax of Prelude No 6 or the sudden blaze of anger that erupts in Prelude No 7 are arguably more sympathetically conveyed than Mompou's gentler, more characteristic instructions (con lirica espressione in Prelude No 8 or un peu plus calme in the second 'Gitanes' from Suburbis.
It is almost as if Maso, a vibrant and articulate pianist, wished to draw attention away from all possible sentimental or salon associations, and direct us towards Mompou's underlying fervour and what Wilfrid Mellors calls (in his invaluable book Le jardin retrouve) the 'pre-melodic' nature of Mompou's vocal lines (in Cants magics) or the evocation of a remote, prehistoric world (see Stephen Hough's essay accompanying his memorably sensitive and stylish Gramophone Award-winning Hyperion recital of 9/97). Maso's boldness is potent and arresting in its own distinctive way and his comprehensive undertaking makes comparison with both Hough and Martin Jones (who devoted two CDs to Mompou in his five-CD Spanish Piano Music album for Nimbus, reviewed on page 84) a marginal issue. So although he is less tonally subtle or beguiling than Jones (compare them in the central section of the second 'Gitanes' from Suburbis with its unmistakable 'blue' or jazz influence), his playing is both vital and idiomatic, qualities highlighted by Naxos's bright and immediate sound. Vol 3 of music by a composer who was himself a pianist of rare distinction, and who declared, 'without my piano I can do nothing', is eagerly awaited.
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