Albeniz: Iberia & Other Late Piano Music

Marc-André Hamelin (piano)

De twaalf pianostukken van Isaac Albéniz die samen Iberia heten, behoort tot de beste pianomuziek die in Spanje werd gecomponeerd en vormt zeker de top in het oeuvre van de componist. Met deze cyclus toongedichten schiep Albéniz een portret van Spanje, van de mediterrane geest, de broeierige sfeer en het gepeperde leven in beroemde plaatsen als Sevilla en Malagá. Deze uitbundige en virtuoze muziek heeft nu in de Frans-Canadese pianist Marc-André Hamelin een vertolker gevonden die de grootste technische hindernissen moeiteloos weet te nemen en tegelijkertijd nog het boeiende verhaal achter de noten vertelt. Een schot in de roos.

Albeniz - Iberia, books 1-4 (complete)
 1. La Vega from the suite Alhambra
 2. Yvonne en visite!
 3. Espagne
 4. Navarra -(completed by William Bolcom)

"Simply put, this is now the recording of choice."
International Record Review

"Here's the most immaculate, effortless and refined of all Iberias. Where others fight to stay afloat, Marc-André Hamelin rides the crest of every formidable wave with nonchalant ease and poetry. Did Albéniz, as Rubinstein once claimed, need a helping hand in Iberia, simplifying textures for greater clarity, brilliance and accessibility? Hamelin's musical grace mocks the very question. His 'Evocación', audaciously free and perfumed, makes you hang on every note, and although characteristically cool, elegant and supple, he's true to the heart of Albéniz's incomparable tapestry of southern Spain. Try 'Almeria' and you'll hear playing of jewelled perfection, a mesmerising dreamworld rudely interrupted by 'Lavapiés', where every one of the composer's torrents of notes is made crystal clear. Hamelin's Albéniz proudly but nonchalantly raises a new and astonishing standard."
Gramophone Classical Music Guide - 2010

"Hamelin again achieves the almost physically impossible with seeming ease. Albéniz's multiple layers are finely balanced, and apparently awkward textures come to life in a lucid acoustic with pace, grace and a constant sense of dance."
BBC Music Magazine - May 2005 ****