Post by Frasco Martín

Albéniz: Iberia (Book I) | Lang Lang (piano) - Live from Vienna Sonorous Spanish music performed by one of the world’s most popular pianists: Lang Lang. In this video from his now-famous concert "Live from Vienna," in 2010, the charismatic Chinese pianist performs Iberia (Book I) by Isaac Albéniz in Vienna’s Musikverein, one of the world's most historic and prestigious concert halls. (00:00) I. Evocatión ("Evocation") (06:35) II. El Puerto ("The Port") (11:34) III. Fête-Dieu à Séville ("Corpus Christi in Seville") Pianist and composer Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) was, without a doubt, a child prodigy. It is said that he received his first piano lessons from his sister at the age of one, and at four he gave his first public concert. A busy concert career followed, during which the young boy, dressed as a musketeer to attract attention, performed virtuoso showpieces at the piano. He traveled to Latin America — according to one myth, as a stowaway on a ship — performing concerts there. By his early twenties, after composing a number of salon works for piano, Albéniz had developed a distinctly Spanish national style, characterized by folkloric elements transformed into highly virtuosic piano music. The piano suite "Iberia" is among the works that established Albéniz’s international fame. Composed between 1905 and 1908, the suite consists of four books, each containing three pieces under the title "Iberia. 12 nouvelles 'impressions' en quatre cahiers." Typical of these twelve impressionistic musical tableaux are highly syncopated rhythms derived from Spanish folk music and dance. The work is especially rich in tonal colors and when performed with sufficient nuance, the piano can sound as if it's an entire orchestra. At times, one might even imagine hearing plucked guitars, thanks to musical devices intended to capture the vibrant atmosphere of Spain in musical form. In a letter to his friend, Catalan pianist and composer Joaquim Malats i Miarons (1872–1912), Albéniz wrote that he had composed "Iberia" thanks to him — and in honor of him. However, the first book of Iberia carries the dedication "À Madame Ernest Chausson" — Jeanne Escudier Chausson, the widow of the French composer Ernest Chausson, who died prematurely in 1899. The premiere of the first book took place in Paris on 9 May 1906, performed by Blanche Selva (1884–1942). The first piece, "Evocatión," with seven flats in the key signature, could be described as an impressionistic homage to Albéniz’s homeland, Spain. It incorporates the rhythms of the fandango and the jota. The second piece, "El Puerto de Santa María," is inspired by the southern Spanish town of the same name. Once again, it is a strongly impressionistic piano work, whose characteristic rhythm is that of a zapateado. The most demanding of the three pieces is "Fête-Dieu à Séville" ("Corpus Christi in Seville"), a highly original musical depiction of a Corpus Christi procession. Accordingly,...