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monthly magazine, January 2001
reviewed by Michel Le Naour.

"This disk, originally recorded in 1995 and now reissued in a new presentation, went relatively unnoticed on its first appearance. Yet the pianist, Lydia Jardon, laureate of the Fondation Cziffra and the Concours Milosz Magin, gives an ardent interpretation of the six Goyescas and the Six pieces based on Spanish folk songs, composed by Granados around 1910. Beneath her fingers, the flamboyant colours and the delicately etched melodic design take on striking relief (Fandango de candil). With consummate sensual and dramatic art, she succeeds in releasing the full Spanish vigour of these works (Zapateado). Her dedication in no way hinders her capacity to respect the rhythmic vigour (Epilogo, Serenata del espectro) and the range of nuances intended by the composer (Los requiebros, El Amor y la Muerte). A somewhat analytical recording gives immediacy and clarity to the sound without prejudicing the soloist's musical intentions. All the varied conditions of the human comedy found in Goya's canvases take on a dimension that is caustic and passionate by turns, but with the stylistic restraint learned from her teachers Milosz Magin and Hüseyin Sermet.
Lydia Jardon is of Catalan extraction, speaks the language of Granados and is perfectly at ease in the very personal lyricism of this world. She does not attempt to imitate the legendary Goyescas of Larocha, nor the austerity of Ciccolini, the excessive imagination of Luisada, the restraint of Del Pueyo or the impressionist poetry of Achucarro in these same pieces. Her mercurial energy is always tempered by a nobility of tone that refuses to descend into pathos and so renders this disk captivating."

December 2000
Stéphane Friédérich.

"This disk, recorded in 1995, has only been released now, as a follow-up to the pianist’s excellent interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s Second Sonata. It is a pleasure to hear once again the supple, beautiful playing in a repertory dominated by male performers, with the obvious exception of Alicia de Larrocha. And that is indeed who comes to mind when listening to Lydia Jardon, whose Goyescas evoke a comparable array of fragrances. Each piece is approached in a different climate, sometimes more in the spirit of Fauré than that of a pure, futile recounting of Spanish folklore. Quejas o la Maja y el Ruiseñor balances lyricism and confidence with the narration of the epilogue, and the Serenata del Espectro is perfectly controlled. The six (or seven, counting the prelude) Popular Spanish Song Pieces are an intelligent complement to the refinement of the Goyescas. The dances are at once rustic, brilliant and unaffected, interpreted as is, with moreover a quality of recording that brings out their best, so they show two aspects of Granados’ music, which is sometimes mistakenly seen as an epigone of Albeniz. Perhaps Lydia Jardon will continue to explore Spanish music, and maybe even that of South America. The repertory suits her admirably."