ENRIQUE GRANADOS Goyescas, Oper (New Yok, 1916) BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, Josep Pons

Granados’s famous opera Goyescas, first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1916, derives from the piano suite premiered in Paris two years previously. At the head of a BBC SO in top form and a handpicked cast, Josep Pons clearly much enjoyed conducting this sparkling new production in London: many scenes in the opera draw their inspiration directly from paintings by Goya, which listeners will also have the pleasure of finding in the booklet of this rare and precious album.