We are proud to present to you our recordings, which contain in their majority a small portion of our piano duo's long original compositions repertoire. Having created our very own two-piano repertoire, has given us a uniqueness which keeps us constantly touring, and meeting wonderful people around the world! Our CDs have been featured on prestigious music magazines throughout the world, such as American Music Teacher (U.S.A.), and Música y Educación (Spain), with wonderful reviews such as this one on American Record Guide:

"The duo's ensemble is impeccable...dead-on perfect...their music turns my home into a little corner of Spain every time I play it...these are true sound pictures...Albéniz and Falla are among the greatest composers born in Spain, as is Elena Martín...Martín's compositions display far more than excellent craft; she has creativity and originality...their recordings capture every nuance of this great duo's performances...Martín, the composer, could never hope for better performances of her work."...

Or this one:

And Mr. Harold C. Schonberg, Pulitzer Prize winner as Chief Music Critic for the New York Times, writes: "Two fine professionals, enjoying themselves, play with strong rhythm and unusual clarity...outlines are clear, passages work precise...they produce a nice, resonant sound...hypnotic...it has been a good hour or so since I played the disc, and the gorgeous music is still running through my head...Martin and Meliton know exactly what they are doing.”

Aside from these reviews appearing on major music magazines from all over the world, our CDs, "Among Lemon Trees", "Candela", "Bougainvilleas of the Soul", "Jaleo", and "Duende", on the Centaur Label, continue to appear on numerous TV and radio broadcasts worldwide, such as Radio Nacional de España (Spain), National Public Radio (U.S.A.), SWR 2 Landesmusikredaktion (Germany), RTHK (China), and Galavision (Mexico). We plan on recording more of our compositions on our next CDs!

Below you will find each of our CD's booklets, which will show detailed information about the pieces featured in them, such as descriptions of each original composition's creative process, etc. After each CD's booklet, you will be able to read some entire reviews corresponding to the excerpts included above. We hope you enjoy perusing this information!

AMONG LEMON TREES' BOOKLET

AMONG LEMON TREES'S REVIEW

Elena Martin has composed and arranged a large repertoire of contemporary Spanish music for two pianos. This is the fourth disc by this husband-wife piano duo reviewed in ARG (Duende, Centaur 2460, Jan/Feb 2001; Jaleo, Centaur 2902, Nov/Dec 2008; Candela, Centaur 3285, Mar/Apr 2014). All have contained works by Martin and were accompanied by her engaging booklet notes. Her pieces are always tuneful, idiomatic for two pianos, and unmistakably Spanish in rhythm and harmony. I am reminded of Lecuona, whose Malagueña is probably his best-known work. Her pieces vary from beautiful melancholy tunes to infectious rhythmical dances. Surely her influences include the great Spanish composers: Albeniz, Granados, and Falla.

Padre Antonio Soler (1729-83) composed a great quantity of keyboard music at the same time Scarlatti was active. Soler's music is perhaps more idiomatically Spanish than Scarlatti’s. He wrote six concertos for two keyboards. Although the word organ is in the original title (Seis Conciertos de dos Organos Obligados Compuestos por el Padre Antonio Soler), and these have been recorded on two organs, the extended range of the bass requires pedals or a larger keyboard than the standard 61-note organ keyboard. They work exceptionally well on two pianos here and in Martin and Meliton's previous releases. Four of the other concertos were on their "Duende" and "Jaleo" releases. This current one is the only one in three movements (others are only two), and the slow-fast-slow pattern is a little out of the ordinary. Beautiful music and I can't wait for them to complete the series.

JAMES HARRINGTON--AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

CANDELA'S BOOKLET

CANDELA'S REVIEW



This is the fourth Centaur release of Spanish music by the Martin-Meliton duo. As before, the duo's ensemble is impeccable, with excellent piano sound and booklet notes by Martin. She is also either the composer or the arranger of all the works and quite good in both roles.

While I have never been to Spain, these discs, and the current one in particular, turn my home into a little corner of that country every time I play them. The infectious rhythms, whether undulating below a beautiful melody or front and center in a dance, permeate the whole listening area. These are true sound pictures. The harmonic switches from major to minor and the employment of various modes almost define the Spanish style, along with the alternating triple-duple rhythmic patterns.

Albeniz and Falla are among the greatest composers born in Spain, as is Martin. Martin's compositional training and influences are clearly and deeply rooted in her country's masters, but her compositions display far more than excellent craft; she has creativity and originality that allows them to sound good alongside the others.

HARRINGTON--ARG

BOUGAINVILLEAS OF THE SOUL'S BOOKLET

The Martin-Meliton duo has been favorably reviewed twice before in ARG. Most of their selections on these discs were two-piano transcriptions by Elena Martin of Spanish music. I encouraged two-piano teams to search out these wonderful rarities. Now we get a full disc of original music by Martin, with definitive performances by the composer and her husband. Again I hope that this music is available to two-piano teams everywhere.

Titled Bougainvilleas of the Soul, Martin's music is unmistakably Spanish to its core: tonal with interesting dissonances, melodic, and strongly rhythmic. There are also some impressionist moments (the central episode of 'La Tempestad' in particular), but one would expect that kind of complementary influence given the strong Spanish influence in a number of works by Debussy and Ravel. I particularly enjoyed the wistful 'Waltz' and the dead on perfect ensemble in the varied tempos of 'Mi Tarde Flamenquita'.

Martin's informative and personal booklet notes are a joy to read, and the recorded sound captures every nuance of this great duo's performances. Martin, the composer, could never hope for better performances of her works. Martin & Meliton, the duo, clearly has found a great addition to their repertoire.

AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

DUENDE AND JALEO'S BOOKLETS