Granados: Goyescas

Painting with the Piano

Some people paint with a brush, some with words. Enrique Granados painted with the piano—evoking the entire world of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya.

Goyescas, Granados’s greatest piano work, comes in two books of six pieces, all inspired by Goya’s paintings and the street life of Madrid.

Here are the balls of the aristocracy, the clamor of the market, the plucking of guitars, the loneliness of late night, and the famous, melancholy “The Maiden and the Nightingale.”

And the pianist bringing these sounds to us is the Taiwanese-American Charlotte Hu.

The Maiden and the Nightingale

“The Maiden and the Nightingale” (Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor) is the emotional heart of the whole set.

Granados imitates the nightingale’s song here—not realistically, but with those ornaments, laden with Gypsy melancholy, that are so characteristic of Spanish music.

Hu’s touch makes the melody seem to hang in mid-air, so light it almost vanishes, yet always within reach. It speaks of a Spanish girl’s secret sorrows.

From Madrid to Taipei

Granados lived his life in the light and shadow of Madrid. And Hu, setting out from Taiwan, carried this music to the world’s stages.

As a Taiwanese-American pianist, Hu has performed at Taipei’s National Concert Hall—so this Goyescas recording carries a special meaning for Taiwanese listeners: a musician from Taiwan, interpreting the soul of Spain.

Why This Recording

This album earned a four-star review from Audiophile Audition.

Hu’s playing combines structural clarity with surging emotion. She doesn’t play Goyescas as a showpiece—she lets each piece be a painting that can be “heard.”

The sound quality is Pentatone’s usual standard—the piano is clean and transparent, and you can hear every vibration of pedal and string.

Further Listening

If you enjoy Spanish piano color, Albéniz’s Iberia is another essential. And Denis Kozhukhin’s Somnia and Radvanovsky’s Puccini: Heroines—both on Pentatone—offer different musical landscapes.