“… one of the beauties of this collection is the way it conveys so powerfully the free-flowing, almost 360-degree influences that these composers exerted on one another… Cooper’s playing is also consistently stimulating. The album opens with a poised account of Ravel’s Pavane (not too slow) and includes a magically atmospheric Albéniz bracket…”  ****½

“… As fans might expect, her [Cooper] approach is unforced, restrained, and more Appollonian that Dionysian. It works beautifully for Ravel’s famous Pavane and pieces by Debussy (La soirée dans Granade, La Puerta del Vino); the pedalling is heavenly, the phrasing languorous…” ***

Performance *****      Recording *****

“ …Cooper’s pianism has a rare refinement, and is hyper-sensitive to the composers’ demands … The whole thing is studded with lovely moments; the muted sweetness of ‘Rumores de la Caleta’, the sparkling arpeggiations of ‘Alborada del gracioso’, the seductive languor of ‘Soirée dans Grenade’, the rapt simplicity of Mompou’s sixth ‘Danza’, the graceful liberation of L’isle joyeuse. Brava!”

“… Ravel's 1899 piano original of Pavane pour une infante défunte defeats the best players. It's not so much difficult as awkward, challenging mood and atmospheric sonority as much as articulation and cantabile voicing. More often than not it ends up in disengaged chords and fragmented notes bereft of pulse and line. Prone to exposing weaknesses before strengths, opening an album with it is arguably foolhardy. Cooper proves otherwise. Her legato, texturing and velvet sonorities generate a landscape of grave beauty, paced and unhurried. Refusing to rush, allowing time and air, colour and depth their own continuum, ebbing and flowing, pays dividends throughout the thirteen subsequent pieces… High production standards (Rachel Smith, Jonathan Cooper), a luminously engineered Steinway crystalline in its upper register, and Snape's inimitable ambience add the final touch” *****