Press

Jose Menor recentre le piano de son compatriote sous une lumiere qui avive les couleurs et les contrastes.

The Pianist Magazine previews Menor's appearance in Toni Castell's new work, 'Hhumann X' on 20 October 2018 at LSO St Luke's, London UK. The work featured as the main theme tune in BBC Radio 4's recent series, 'The Anatomy of Loneliness'.

“Les spécialistes disent que [les] compositions [de Hector Parra] requièrent une virtuosité instrumentale et des interprètes exceptionnels. On ne doute pas que José Menor en est un.“

“Peire-Serrate’s ‘Toccata’ for piano was a tour-de-force of relentless 16th notes and contrasting dynamics, with Menor bringing forth a wealth of shadings from the keyboard”

“A stirring demonstration of love and respect for a composer’s output.”

“[Jose Menor’s] performance surely is among the best”

“It is through José Menor’s playing that the music speaks so eloquently. The interpretation is utterly involving and dramatic, but never loses sight of the many moments of delicacy and reflection.”

“Menor plays Goyescas with refreshing freedom and spontaneity … The work sounds second nature and organic under his fingers.”

Listed as “one of the best interviews of 2017”: Jose Menor discusses ‘Goyescas’ by Enrique Granados.

“One of the best albums of classical music worldwide” / “Un dels millors discs de clàssica a nivell mundial” / Albert Ferrer Flamarich

Voted one of the best CDs of the year, 2017.

“Una auténtica sorpresa. La interpretación del joven pianista José Menor  […] busca en cambio subrayar su dramaticidad y modernismo. Un intérprete a seguir con atención.”

“A real surprise. The interpretation of the young pianist Jose Menor […] searches for underlying dramatic qualities and modernity. A player to follow with interest.”

“José Menor and the young IBS Classical label may be among the best world albums of 2017.”

“José Menor y del joven sello IBS Classical puedan estar en los mejores discos mundiales de este 2017.”

‍Jed Distler introduces his programme ‘Between the Keys’ with a piece from Goyescas performed by Jose Menor.

“Marvellous Spanish music by Granados, superbly played by a man on a very personal mission to bring this remarkable work to everyone’s attention.”

Jamie MacDougall chooses Goyescas by Jose Menor as the Album of the Week.

…una versió major, profundament dramàtica, amb un so pulcre i amb un domini absolut del lirisme.

…a major version, deeply dramatic, with a polished sound and with absolute mastery of lyricism.

‍‘Una Mirada a Goyescas’

José Menor is an extraordinary pianist with a fearsome technique and unrivalled fluidity of touch.

[Menor] revels in the music’s joyous exuberance and penetrates its dark intropsection, embracing the dynamic extremes and contouring the labyrinthine textures to gorgeously three-dimensional effect. Enthusiastically recommended.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

‍Five stars (*****)

‘Un enfoque efresco y imprescendible’ /A fresh and essential interpretation

‍“The playing is phenomenal”

“[…] Menor plays with an expressive flexibility and impetuosity that’s hard to resist. […]

”Coloquio en la reja” actually sounds like a conversation, and the dance rhythms of “El fandango del candil” are electrifying. The final “Serenata del espectro” packs an incredible emotional punch, the throwaway ending perfectly judged.”

“This work is so much more than a virtuoso showpiece, and Menor reveals what’s behind the notes. As modern recordings of Goyescas go, this is exceptional.”

‍“Fabulous playing!”

Jose Menor performs selections from Goyescas live in the BBC Radio 3 studio.

‍“The special skill of this pianist, to extract colours from the keyboard, was shown in Ligeti’s Etude No. 9 and in the work of Menor himself, a piece of jazzy ‘aromas’, of great technical difficulty and dynamic contrasts with a strong sound impact.“

‍“José Menor: unas Goyescas de ensueño”

‍Mikaela Vergara presents Goyescas by Jose Menor in the national Spanish television show, “Atención obras”.

‍Radio feature, tracks & quiz: Hoy, “Goyescas” de Granados en interpretación de Jose Menor, protagonista de las Novetats discogràfiques del programa “Tots els matins del món”

‍“a unique and potently dramatic Goyescas” … “a regal palace of sound” …”a CD of great value” … “a truly superb booklet with a lengthy essay by Menor that is informative, reflective, wide-ranging and unafraid”

‍At the peak of his creativity, Enrique Granados (1867-1916) developed a style inspired by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. Imagining his own Romantic ideal of 18th-century Madrid, this style materialised in his masterpiece, Goyescas – which means ‘in the manner of Goya’, a large-scale Suite depicting a love story with a tragic ending.

Online version here:

http://www.musicalopinion.com/current_issue.html#five

‍“Una interpretación vibrante, con carácter, rica y técnicamente perfecta.” (…) “77 minutos de música sensacional.”

“A vibrant interpretation, with character, rich and technically perfect.” (…) “77 minutes of sensational music.”

‍“A precise pianistic style […] that captures all the ornamental richness […] and sublime subtlety of the score.” – (5 stars)

‍Menor shares his views on Granados prior to his performance of Goyescas at Carnegie Hall, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death.

‍“splendidly presented […] a pianist who has clearly devoted huge energy to investigating [Goyescas’] textual history as well as its elaborate structure”

‍“This is fantastic work (…) we [the Granados family] don’t have enough words to thank you. You have been (…) an ambassador of peace, beauty and respect towards the figure and person of my great grandfather.”
– Jordi Granados

“Menor, as a true virtuoso, takes this work by the throat, playing it as though his life depended upon it.”
– Tom Deacon

“Incredible beauty. The lyric sense, the elegant rubatos, the ‘Chopin-esque’ perfume, the character, the flexibility… I have always stated that you play one of the best Granados nowadays. I really repeat it and underline it.”
– Victor Garcia de Gomar – Artistic Director, Palau de la Musica

“It is sensational, with very innovative details and nuances in the rhythmic treatment and the sense of colour.”
– Javier Perez Senz – El Pais, Barcelona

“It is magnificent! It sounds so good and it’s so well-played… I promise, my tears are welling up and I can’t avoid it. … Thank you!”
– Barbara Granados

‍“Granados and Menor form a wonderful combination as ambassadors of Spanish music”
“Menor moves with a contagious flexibility between great romantic gesture, voluptuous virtuosity and a dance-like energy.”

‍Jose speaks with The Cross-Eyed Pianist about his career, inspirations and new Goyescas album!

‍El pianista barcelonés José Menor ofrece en grabación del sello granadino IBS una versión renovada de ‘Goyescas’, la obra maestra para el piano de Enrique Granados

Revisiting Granados (EPTA, Spring 2017)

‍“Menor draws wonderfully with the piano, and explains the music with impeccable technical precision and with high narrative power.”

‍“Menor gave an impassioned and eloquent performance of his predecessor’s music at Carnegie Hall.”
“a concise and efficent interpreter”
“expressive yet not extravagant, emotional, but not overly decorative”

Un siglo de la muerte de Granados, el compositor espanol que tirunfo en Nueva York

En 1916 Enrique Granados trunfaba en Mueva York con sus Goyescas. Conquistaba al siempre reticente publico estadounidense. Sin embargo su felicidad duro poco, en el viaje de regreso a Espana, despues de hacer escala en londres, moria ahogado.

‍“An intense, beautiful recital” [at Carnegie Hall]

“un gigante ante el teclado” / “a giant at the keyboard”

‍“sensational recital (…). José Menor is a great pianist, with means, imagination, expressive quality and absolute surrender.”

‍“José Menor has an impeccable technique (…) an immutable capacity for the interpretation of the most complex passages (…) with a boundless tranquility that makes him prodigious.”

‍“Pianist José Menor gave a full piano lesson and a ‘Pathetique’ to remember.”

‍“Indeed, this young Catalan pianist has already done many things (…), as important as those that have led him to be one of our finest musicians. (…) Menor made his own, spreading the desire to make (good) music (…) The bar was very high, but the ambitious second half was equally a display of mastery (…)”

“(…) a pianist/artist, therefore profound, that searches for expressing the essence of the compositions (…) He dominated the complex demands of Guinjoan’s works and gave deepness and meaning to Albéniz and Granados. Do we need to add anything else?”

‍“José Menor gives this multidimensional music almost sculptural presence and has a highly rich palette of colors!”

“With Menor’s undisputed sound mastery, this record must mark a turning point in the appreciation of contemporary piano in our country, and reveal itself as a discographic milestone, thanks to its protagonist at the keyboard.”

‍“(…) he offered a great version of the three works of the second book of Iberia by Albéniz, where his interpretation of Almeria was especially outstanding, waking up the soul of unforgettable pages. (…) Menor is called to be one of the greats of the music of our country.”

‍(…) José Menor, a musician that unfolds a ductile and flexible pianism, capable of containing and expanding a piano of a thousand colours and textures. (…) José Menor offers us a brilliant reading.”

‍“… the Concerto for piano and orchestra number 4, in G major, op 58, was masterfully performed by José Menor, who put all his talent to work with bravura, showing features of great sound, genius interpretation and a phrasing that moved effortlessly on the piano with a perfect technique. Without a doubt, a very intense interpretation that moved the audience emotionally and demonstrated that the pianist from Sabadell is one of the most notable pianists on the Spanish scene.”

‍“… Menor’s unaffected, quiet approach belied his total mastery of the piano as he played with impeccable technique, whether playing blistering-fast runs or tricky arpeggios, and thoughtful artistry, whether playing agitated octaves or light and mysterious melodies…In the concerto’s second movement, especially, Menor and conductor Jon Robertson seemed to challenge each other to deliver the more sensitive rendering of the music on their respective instruments – Menor’s piano and Robertson’s orchestra…”

‍“(…) an exemplary performance by Mr Menor, whose combination of brilliance and sensitivity in the demanding solo part was a joy to hear.”

‍“With certainty Menor is an extremely promising young pianist. (…) The Spanish pianist proved to be a top virtuoso. (…) His performance of the compositions from Albeniz and Granados where particularly enthusiastic.” /”… in the pieces of Granados and Albeniz, he was really in his element. The pieces from Goyescas and from the Iberia-Suite, which are extremely virtuoso, where played in shimmering colours, humorous and with high expressivity.” / “The sound is shimmering almost unphysical, fairylike, magical, transparent…”

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‍“This superb recital by the young Spanish pianist José Menor, whose beguiling mix of finesse and fire lit up a programme of striking contrasts (…)”

‍“Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, solving it brilliantly, a mixture of prodigious technique, committed virtuosity and an enriching phrasing that ended in spirited applause. A pristine fingering accompanied an interpretation that showed power, not only in those eternal trills, but also in those few passages in which lyricism can flow naturally.”

(“Concierto para piano no. 1 de Liszt, resolviéndolo con brillantez, mezcla de prodigio tecnico, virtuosa entrega y un enriquecedor fraseo que acabo en una cerrada ovación. Una digitación impoluta acompañó una interpretación que demostró poderío, no sólo en esos trinos eternos que lució, sino también en esos contados pasajes en los que el lirismo puede llegar a fluir con cierta naturalidad.”)

‍“Quality already prevailed in the first half, because, despite his last name, José Menor is a major pianist (…) the musician from Sabadell is very cerebral, technically perfect (…) ”

(“Lo mayor se impuso ya en la primera parte, porque, pese a su apellido, José Menor es un pianista mayúsculo. (…) el músico de Sabadell es muy cerebral, técnicamente perfecto (…)”)

‍“The Catalan pianist plunged in with great courage, displaying good sound, careful phrasing and better technique.”

(“El pianista cátala es va tirar a la piscina amb valor, deixant empremtes de bon so, fraseig acurat i millor técnica.”)

‍“It was a reflective Beethoven, of precise and meticulous execution.”

(“Fue un Beethoven reflexivo, de precisa y meticulosa ejecución.”)

‍“The virtues of this pianist—his good sound, clear interpretative shape,  his searching for minute effects, his elaboration of dynamics, phrasing and technique —was all evident (…) But above all,  it was his very good musical taste.”

(“… fue posible apreciar las virtudes de este pianista, de buen sonido, en una clara vertiente interpretativa, buscando pequeños efectos, elaborando las dinámicas, de buen fraseo y técnica (…) pero sobre todo de muy buen gusto musical.”)