Albéniz: Champagne, L'Automne, Rêves, Les Saisons, Espagne

Chronique

Spanish composer and piano virtuoso Isaac Albéniz was prolific, especially in his youth, in producing piano pieces suitable for use in the salon and café alike, and published so many that several early prints remain to be located yet. By his own admission, Albéniz wasn't above dashing off some salon trifle in exchange for chump change spent crawling the saloons of Barcelona. However, the assumption that all such music is of middling to negligible quality -- as critic Harold C. Schonberg once opined -- would be off the mark; quite a bit of it is worth reviving, some even containing glimpses of the distinctively Spanish, impressionistic idiom of his most famous work, the suite Ibéria (1905-1909). Spanish label La mà de Guido has brought the talents of pianist Sira Hernández to bear on five works composed by Albéniz between 1888-1897 on its release Albéniz abans Albéniz: Underknown Albéniz Piano Works. Yes, the title "underknown" is as given, even though native English speakers are aware that this is not a word; however, in the end, the music is what counts. While these pieces may be "underknown," they aren't unknown, as all have been recorded before, with the two-movement suite España (Souvenirs) no longer being qualifiedly neglected, having been recorded many times. Hernández's interpretations are a little hesitant in spots, but very patiently played overall with a sense of romantic elegance, pointing up the connection between the youthful Albéniz and the tradition of Chopin and Schumann. "Chant d'amour" from the suite Rêves might almost be mistaken for early Scriabin if it weren't for Albéniz's rather arch and heavy landings at transitional phrases. Albéniz's suite Les Saisons has gained some traction of late as these pieces are ideal for intermediate pianists and are of only moderate difficulty; it's a pity they aren't more substantial than they are, given the theme, yet they are charming and "L'Hiver" contains some spicy dissonances that hearken of things to come. If there is an advantage to this collection above others of its kind, it is hard to see what that might be outside of the fact that it's nice to have these particular pieces in one place and that Hernández plays them well. La mà de Guido needs to work a little on its capturing of the piano sound; while it is generally warm, the high notes are a little glassy on the top. Nevertheless, this disc is a good one for spreading the word that Albéniz's earlier piano literature is worth its salt, serving as the Spanish equivalent to mainstream romantic keyboard music outside of Liszt and Brahms.
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