Isaac Albéniz: Iberia (for Solo piano & Orchestrated Version) & Other Piano Works Alicia de Larrocha, Jean-Joël Barbier, Orchestre du Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris & Manuel Rosenthal

• Isaac Albéniz (1860 - 1909): Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book I:
• 1 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book I: I. Evocación 05:33
• 2 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book I: II. El Puerto 04:06
• 3 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book I: III. El Corpus en Sevilla 08:06
• 4 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book II: IV. Rondeña 07:07
• 5 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book II: V. Almería 08:58
• 6 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book II: VI. Triana 05:14
• 7 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book III: VII. El Albaicín 06:45
• 8 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book III: VIII. El Polo 06:42
• 9 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book III: IX. Lavapiés 06:17
• 10 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book IV: X. Málaga 04:28
• 11 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book IV: XI. Jerez 08:38
• 12 Albéniz: Iberia, 12 Impressions for piano, Book IV: XII. Eritaña 05:22
• Iberia, Suite:
• 13 Albéniz: Iberia, Suite: I. Evocación (Allegro espressivo) [Transcribed by Enrique Fernández Arbós] 05:55
• 14 Albéniz: Iberia, Suite: III. El Corpus en Sevilla (Allegro grazioso) [Transcribed by Enrique Fernández Arbós] 08:52
• 15 Albéniz: Iberia, Suite: VI. Triana (Allegretto) [Transcribed by Enrique Fernández Arbós] 05:02
• 16 Albéniz: Iberia, Suite: II. El Puerto (Allegro comodo) [Transcribed by Enrique Fernández Arbós] 04:28
• 17 Albéniz: Iberia, Suite: VII. El Albaicín (Allegro) [Transcribed by Enrique Fernández Arbós] 08:03
• Cantos de España, Op. 232:
• 18 Albéniz: Cantos de España, Op. 232: I. Prélude in G Minor (Allegro ma non troppo) 07:11
• 19 Albéniz: Cantos de España, Op. 232: II. Orientale in D Minor (Allegretto) 03:33
• 20 Albéniz: Cantos de España, Op. 232: III. Sous le palmier in E-Flat Major (Allegro ma non troppo) 04:30
• 21 Albéniz: Cantos de España, Op. 232: IV. Córdoba (Andantino) 06:13
• 22 Albéniz: Cantos de España, Op. 232: V. Seguidillas in F-Sharp Major (Allegro molto) 03:09
• España, Souvenirs for Piano, Op. 165:
• 23 Albéniz: España, Souvenirs for Piano, Op. 165: I. Prelude in D-Flat Major (Andantino) 08:22
• Mallorca, Op. 202:
• 24 Albéniz: Mallorca, Op. 202 06:31
• Recuerdos de Viaje, Op. 71:
• 25 Albéniz: Recuerdos de Viaje, Op. 71: VI. Rumores de la Caleta (Allegro), in D Minor 03:51
• Total Runtime 02:32:56

Info for Isaac Albéniz: Iberia (for Solo piano & Orchestrated Version) & Other Piano Works

De Larrocha was the recognized master of Spanish piano literature (she died in 2009), and had recorded the complete dozen “Impressions for piano” of Albeniz more than once. The first of these new remastering of her first stereo recording, made by Hispavox in Spain in 1958. The double album is part of Praga’s Reminiscences Collection, which has featured historic mostly stereo recordings of Richter, Michelangeli, and works by Debussy, Ravel and Falla.

Albeniz’ suite is considered by experts as well as music lovers to be one of the major creations in the repertory for the piano. Though influenced heavily by Chopin and Liszt, he also could be considered one of the French Impressionists along with Debussy and Ravel. In four books of three pieces each, Albeniz portrayed various locations and events in Spain, and he dedicated each of the four books to a different woman—among them the wives of both Chausson and Lalo.

De Larrocha brings out the flamenco roots in much of the music, as well as its oriental, gypsy-influenced harmonies. The impressionistic colors created at the keyboard by Albeniz are clearly expressed, and one cannot be surprised to find that more than one musician has wanted to arrange these piano pieces for symphony orchestra. ...

Alicia de Larrocha, piano (Iberia)
Orchestre du Theatre National de l'Opera de Paris
Manuel Rosenthal, conductor
Jean-Joel Barbier, piano

Digitally remastered

Alicia de Larrocha
Few female pianists were more lauded in their time than Alicia de Larrocha, who was considered peerless in the repertoire of her native Spain. Her recordings of Soler, Granados, Albéniz, Turina, Falla and Mompou were best-sellers, and she won four Grammy Awards — twice for records of Albéniz’s Iberia (1974 and 1988) and once for Granados’ Goyescas (1991), as well as for a disc of concertante works by Ravel and Fauré (1975). In a 1978 interview, Larrocha differentiated among the core Spanish composers: “In my opinion, Granados was the only one that captured the real Romantic flavor. His style was aristocratic, elegant and poetic — completely different from Falla and Albéniz. To me, each of them is a different world. Falla was the one who really captured the spirit of the Gypsy music. And Albéniz, I think was more international than the others. Even though his music is Spanish in flavor, his style is completely Impressionistic.” Born in Barcelona in 1923 and raised into a family of pianists, she began studying the instrument at age 3 with noted Catalanonian pedagogue Frank Marshall. She made her first recordings, of Chopin, at age 9, her feet not yet able to reach the pedals. Despite having small hands even as an adult (being only 4-feet-9-inches tall), Larrocha could eventually stretch her hands to master not only the difficult spans of Iberia but even Rachmaninoff’s central concertos.

In a career that lasted some 75 years, Larrocha’s repertoire also ranged from Scarlatti, Mozart and Beethoven to Schumann, Liszt and Khachaturian, among others. Along with being a popular soloist – not only in Spain but worldwide, particularly in America (performing at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival from 1971 to 2003) — the pianist partnered with star Spanish vocalists Victoria de los Angeles and Montserrat Caballé, as well as with the cellist Gaspar Cassadó and the Tokyo String Quartet. Larrocha’s first tour of the U.S., in 1955, saw her playing Mozart and Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain, an atmospheric specialty, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Reviewing her New York debut recital that same year at Town Hall, New York Times critic Harold Schonberg said about her way with Spanish music: “She had a way of idiomatically shaping a musical phrase that cannot be taught — a sudden dynamic shift, a note instinctively accented, a touch of the pedal, an application of rubato. Her rhythm was extraordinarily flexible. Obviously, this music is in the pianist’s blood. She invested it with a degree of life and imagination that not many pianists before the public today could begin to duplicate.” Later, in his book The Great Pianists, Schonberg said: “It’s hard to imagine the piano being played better than it is in her Epic recording of Goyescas.” Larrocha, who died in 2009, won many European honors and was the first Spanish artist to be awarded the Unesco Prize, in 1995. — Bradley Bambarger

Booklet for Isaac Albéniz: Iberia (for Solo piano & Orchestrated Version) & Other Piano Works