RICARDO CASTRO (1864-1907): Piano Concerto, Op. 22, Cello Concerto, Oithona (Symphonic Poem), Op. 55.

Description: Since the young Castro’s natural purpose as a Mexican composer was to show that a Mexican could do what a European could do (no Dvorakian folk inspiration here), it’s only natural that the tone poem of 1885 (suggested by a James McPherson poem set in the Celtic Middle Ages) should sound quite a bit like Liszt and that the piano concerto (c.1885-87) should invoke Liszt and Chopin; it’s that they’re so compellingly done, richly instrumented and exciting in performance here. The cello concerto is later and was premiered in Paris in 1903; heard blind, you might think it’s a lost concerto by Lalo or Saint-Saëns. These are claimed to be the first concertos for these instruments and the first tone poem written in the Spanish-speaking western hemisphere. Rodolfo Ritter (piano), Vladimir Sagaydo (cello), Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosí; José Miramontes Zapata.