How could such a lovely disc escape my attention? Was it because Francesc Valls did not immediately ring a bell? Whatever the case, now that I have listened to it, I feel almost duty-bound to share my views with whoever reads these lines. Going through the accompanying notes, I realise that Gordon Safari, conductor-writer, or should I say the musicologist with the spirit of a Sherlock Holmes, must have spent quite some time unravelling Valls’ contribution to the Spanish cultural scene. The reference “Works from ‘Mapa Armónico Práctico’ 1742’’ on the cover relates to the 26 short pieces taken from Valls’ monumental, idiosyncratic work, encompassing multiple compositional practices and styles, and now for the first time on record. It's revealing for the level of musical life in Spain in an otherwise turbulent era.

They may not all be as ‘con afecto’ as the subtitle suggests. Indeed, the variety corresponds to the above purpose of the ‘Mapa Armónico Practico’, some lovingly beautiful, some intriguingly spooky, but all rendered in a perfectly shaped fashion. Do read the notes and keep the pages with texts (English translation provided) at hand when listening.

Gordon Safari has modelled an ensemble consisting of prime musicians and singers into a versatile group that operates under the name BachWerkVokal (yes, in one word) to historically perform Bach’s vocal work and a whole lot more from the same period, including Valls’. All of it with remarkable results.

Keeping my comments as brief as possible, and thereby inversely proportional to the high quality of singing and playing, I’m sure that many will welcome this peek into what Spain has to offer to all those classical music enthusiasts believing there is hardly anything worthwhile new under the sun to discover. This disc will prove them wrong.

MDG has rightly released this disc in their GOLD series.

Blangy-le-Château, Normandy, France.

Copyright © 2026 Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net

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