GINASTERA, A.: Estancia (excerpts) / Suite de danzas criollas / Popol vuh (London Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ben-Dor)

Artistic Quality 10 Sound Quality 9
"Here’s a terrific Ginastera collection. The Estancia and Panambi suites are drawn from Ben-Dor’s complete recording, also now on Naxos, and they are somewhat different from the composer’s own. So if you don’t have the complete versions but do have other recordings of these two suites, you really aren’t duplicating by getting this disc as well. The remaining works are all equally well-played, with the Suite de Danzas Criollas being very idiomatically orchestrated by Shimon Cohen. This performance of Popul Vuh may not be quite as savage as Slatkin’s premiere recording on RCA, but that was far less interestingly coupled, and it’s difficult to take issue with any particular aspect of the performance generally. In this context the music seems all of a piece, and as a single-disc survey of Ginastera’s orchestral music it would be difficult to imagine a more attractive program than this one. Given the different orchestras, venues, and recording dates, the engineering is remarkably consistent."

David Hurwitz - ClassicsToday.com - April 2011

Recording quality is full and clear, despite the fact that this program was recorded in different venues and at different times. The London performances, as I said, have been issued before, but I can find no evidence of a previous incarnation of the Danzas Criollas, Ollantay, or Popol Vuh, which were recorded in 2006 and 2001 respectively. Once again, we owe Naxos a debt for making these colorful performances available. Phillip Scott - Fanfare - January 2011

Ben-Dor’s approach is essentially objective though it does a remarkably good job of bending to the plasticity of rhythms in each work. I found the slightly reverberant sound quality to be quite effective in this disc, as it softens some of the more violent outbursts and adds a certain mystical aura to the soft passages. Well worth hearing and, if you are a fan of Latin American composers in general and Ginastera in particular, worth owning. Lynn René Bayley - Fanfare - March 2011

Gisèle Ben-Dor is clearly on familiar ground here and she conducts vital, committed and convincing readings of all the works. All three orchestras respond superbly with playing of the highest quality. The recorded sound is excellent throughout.There is actually very little to complain about with this generous release."

MusicWeb-International.com - September 2010

Only in Ben-Dor’s recording do I really get the idea that Ginastera had primeval images in mind. Criollas is well worth having, and her Ollantay is nice enough Roger Hecht - American Record Guide - November 2010

Ben-Dor proved her Ginastera chops in her earlier releases of the popular ballets and of the Variaciones concertantes and the Glosses on Themes of Pablo Casals. She gets great playing not only from the LSO, but from every one of her ensembles. Her Popul Vuh especially impressed me, since it’s a hard score to keep together, and she makes the music both coherent and exciting. The sound is excellent."

Steve Schwartz - ClassicalNet - 14 June 2012