Chandos's centenary survey of the orchestral music of Argentina's most celebrated composer, Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983), begins with three early works, working backwards from Pampeana No 3 (1954) through Ollantay (1947) to the ballet Estancia (1941).
The music is from creative periods when Ginastera identified his concerns as objective nationalism and subjective nationalism.
The music is drenched in ethnic colouring, both in its pampas-inspired contemplation and in the characteristic, driving dance rhythms, orchestrated with gaudy flair.
This vividly performed, often toe-tapping disc offers the full Estancia ballet, the suite from which is the composer’s most popular orchestral work.
