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RECITAL REVIEW
Peerless Pianist in Iberian Repertoire March 17, 2002
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By John McCarthy
Pianist Alicia de Larrocha offered an exultant recital of Spanish music
spanning three centuries last Sunday evening in Davies Symphony Hall.
Playing that is so brilliantly assured and poetic is rare enough, but when a
true, authentic voice in music is sounded, it is cause for celebration.
De Larrocha opened her program with sonatas by Antonio Soler in G minor and
D major, animated with crisp articulation and having a somewhat veiled
quality to the sonority. Unlike his teacher Scarlatti, Padre Soler favored
the pianoforte over the harpsichord and the music lends itself to shade and
nuance. De Larrocha's enthusiastic, straightforward approach let the music
speak for itself.
Isaac Albéniz' pre-impressionist masterpiece Iberia is a set of twelve
pieces divided into four volumes, and de Larrocha offered two selections:
"Evocacion" from Book One and "El albaicin" from Book Three. With his Lisztian
inclinations, Albéniz often needs to be saved from his interpreters. It
was
his good fortune to have such simplicity and nostalgic quality from de
Larrocha in "Evocacion." In her hands, the music spoke volumes, directly and
to the heart. In "El albaicin," de Larrocha exploited
to full advantage the harmonically-radical use of polytonal,
clashing, minor-second sonorities. This was playing of remarkable clarity in the
overlapping
textures and of effortless, unforced virtuosity.
If Albéniz can be seen as pre-impressionist, the music of Xavier
Montsalvatge, born in 1912, is certainly post-impressionist. His "Impromptu
en el Generalife" from Quatre dialegs amp el piano (a la memoria de Ricard
Vines)
was written for de Larrocha in 1930 and revised in 1996. His
Sonatina
para Yvette, a musical portrait of his daughter, utilizes expanded triads,
especially 9ths and 13ths, and yet always with a tonal underpinning. The
hilarious, toccata-like syncopated finale allowed de Laroccha's upbeat side
to come forth. Montsalvatge's Ivesian treatment of Twinkle, Twinkle
Little
Star was nice and naughty. De Laroccha captured the impish spirit with
consummate, brilliant abandon.
After intermission, de Laroccha presented selections from one of the great glories of the Romantic piano literature, Goyescas, Book 2: "Los majos enarmorados." Granados dedicated himself almost completely to the piano, as had Chopin, and there is sublimated expression at every turn. The Goyescas (Pieces after Goya) is essentially aristocratic music, not merely salon trivia but music of great depth and power. Written from 1912-14 and inspired by the work of Francisco Goya, Granados' music verifies his statement that he "fell in love with the mind of Goya." Making light of every difficulty and seemingly tireless, de Laroccha is obviously peerless in this repertoire. Her mother, aunt and de Laroccha herself studied at the very school that Granados founded in Spain. "El amor y le muerte," with such unforgettable darkness in the textures, or the virtuoso "El pelele" ("Straw man") sounding so easy, is piano playing to be cherished. (John McCarthy is a pianist and teacher. He is Director of Preparatory andExtension Divisions at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.) ©2002 John McCarthy, all rights reserved |
