Capricho Latino
Rachel Barton Pine
Cedille CDR90000124

Release date July 2011

Rachel Barton Pine has quietly developed a reputation as a violinist who is drawn to the less familiar. Capricho Latino brings together a collection of Spanish and Latin American music by composers ranging from the late-Romantic to the present day. Barton Pine used as the basis for her research an out-of-print volume containing more than 2,500 titles of music for unaccompanied violin. And so the disc includes, amongst others, works by Cordero, Rodrigo, Tarrega, Ysa˙e and Piazzolla. Whilst there are some arrangements here (including two by Barton Pine herself), the majority of the programme is made up of pieces originally written for solo violin and overall there are eight world-premieres. Barton Pine’s arrangement of Albeniz’s Asturias, as she states in her accompanying notes, pays “homage to the sound of the guitar while embracing its new life as a piece for the violin.” This work also serves to demonstrate Barton Pine’s athleticism and virtuosic skill as a violinist. Tarrega’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra (arranged by Ruggiero Ricci) sounds delicate and captures the shimmery quality of the guitar perfectly. Rodrigo’s Capriccio for violin is an extraordinary piece, demanding an almost super-human technique of the performer. The recital concludes with Alan Ridout’s Ferdinand the Bull (narrated by Hector Elizondo), based on the short children’s story written by Munro Leaf. The story, published just before the Spanish Civil War, quickly became enmeshed by politics and was banned in many countries for some time. The sleeve-notes are excellent; Barton Pine begins by explaining what’s brought her to the project, and then each of the works is put into context.

Reviewed by Ruth Taylor