Although he was already an established figure in Mexico City, Manuel Ponce’s life was transformed after meeting the guitar virtuoso Andrés Segovia in 1923. Their subsequent lifelong friendship and artistic collaboration started with the sprightly wit and airy playfulness of the Sonata ‘Mexicana’. The Third Sonata reveals Ponce’s romantic-era roots and his affinity for Chopin, while the Sonata clásica is both an homage to Fernando Sor and Mozart’s delightful Italian operatic style. The remarkable Sonate romantique is almost like a lost work by Schubert.

Peeling aside Segovia’s editorial changes, Aleksandr Tsiboulski’s performances return as much as possible to Ponce’s original manuscripts.