After a centuries-long, post-Renaissance slump when Spanish
music was overwhelmed by German and Italian influences, it soared back to glory
in the final decades of the 19th-century. The chief architect of this rebirth
was Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922). The impact of this composer, teacher and writer
echoes throughout the music on this CD. Pedrell launched his patriotic musical
crusade by increasing Spaniards’ awareness of their magnificent musical heritage.
Surveying his own time, Pedrell recognized that in the rowdy style of operetta
known as the zarzuela, the country had already established a strong beachhead
in theatre. His next goal was to carve out a matching reputation for Spanish
instrumental music, using folk songs and dances as the foundation. “Let us aspire
to the essence of an ideal and purely human musical form,” he wrote, “but seated
in the shade of our southern gardens.” This lofty aim lay beyond Pedrell’s composing
talent, but his gifted pupils - including Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla and
Enrique Granados - brought it to pass. Albéniz (1860-1909) led an early life
of Hollywood-style adventure. At 12, and already a seasoned concert pianist,
he stowed away on a ship bound for the Americas. Returning to Europe, he undertook
formal musical instruction, including lessons from Franz Liszt. His youthful
compositions are lightweight, cosmopolitan salon music. Under Pedrell’s tutoring,
Albéniz began creating music with a distinctly Spanish tang. After spending
several years in Paris, where he became friends with Debussy, Chausson and other
prominent composers, he hit his creative stride by merging Spanish earthiness
and French refinement. His catalogue is dominated by piano music, but also includes
a number of theatre works, songs and a handful of pieces involving the orchestra.
The original, piano-and orchestra version of Rapsodia española (Spanish
Rhapsody), Op. 70, was first performed in 1887. Albéniz later adapted it for
piano solo. In this free-wheeling medley of dance themes, the mood and energy
level change frequently, shifting in the blink of an eye between sultriness
and animation. Falla’s life (1876-1946) shares several parallels with Albéniz.
He, too studied with Pedrell, spent time in Paris, and went on to synthesize
French and Spanish musical elements. He was a more serious artist than Albéniz.
He also found the orchestra more congenial. His finest orchestral composition
is Noches en los jardines de España (Nights in the Gardens of Spain,
1916). Falla’s original intention was to write a set of three nocturnes for
solo piano, but at the suggestion of celebrated pianist Ricardo Viñes, it developed
into a work for piano and orchestra. It is not a traditional concerto, but an
orchestral work where the keyboard takes the role of principal - but by no means
exclusive - advocate of the music’s shimmering impressionist colours. Falla
wrote, “Although in this work the composer has followed a definite design, regarding
tonal rhythmical and thematic material...the end for which it is written is
no other that to evoke places, sensations, and sentiments...The music has no
pretensions of being descriptive; it is merely expressive. But something more
than the sounds of festivals and dances have inspired these three ‘evocations
in sound,’ for melancholy and mystery play their part, too.” The title of the
opening section, “In the Generalife”, refers to a garden in the Alhambra, the
lavish palace in Granada where the Moorish caliphs spent the summer. It is the
most tranquil section of the piece, though passion and warmth figure in it,
as well. “Distant Dance” brings a brace of animated rhythms, suggestive of an
evening festival. This spirit continues into the finale, “In the Gardens of
the Mountains of Córdoba”, until the music gradually winds down, fading gently
and nostalgically into the night. Joaquin Turina (1882-1949) followed much the
same path as Albéniz and Falla, including a period of study in Paris. In 1907,
he and Falla took part in a Parisian performance of a Turina quintet. Albéniz
was in the audience. He took his two young colleagues to a café afterwards and
passed on some of Pedrell’s advice to Turina. He recommended that his young
colleague cast off his conservative models and look to Spanish folk music for
inspiration. Turina followed this counsel for a time, only to end up using it
as just one element of an internationalist style. His music has colour to spare
and regularly treats distinctly Spanish subjects, but it pays greater attention
to traditional forms than any of his Spanish contemporaries. Rapsodia
sinfónica (Symphonic Rhapsody), Op. 66 for piano and string orchestra,
dates from 1931. Briefer and less wide-ranging than the Albéniz rhapsody, it
falls into two distinct halves. The opening panel is slow in tempo, and warmly
expressive in character. The soloist kicks off the dashing second section, where
at times Turina makes the piano sound like a big, strummed guitar. With Xavier
Montsalvatge (born 1912) this program leaves the sphere of direct contact between
composers and moves to a more generalized type of influence (although Montsalvatge
did win the Barcelona Conservatory’s Pedrell Prize). Like Turina, he has included
elements of Spanish folk traditions in his music on a regular basis, and has
melded them with practices drawn from beyond the borders of his homeland. His
early works reflect the cheeky French (Les Six) and sinewy, neo-classical Russian
(Stravinsky) models of the day. Montsalvatge’s Concierto breve of 1953
is a more individual piece, although more akin to the bright, refreshing concertos
of Joaquin Rodrigo than any radical school of the day. It is dedicated to eminent
Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha. A literal translation of the title - “Brief
Concerto” - is misleading. At over 23 minutes, it is longer than many standard-repertoire
concertos such as those of Liszt. The ceremonial, quasi-serious opening soon
gives way to a first movement built upon bright hi-jinks and an endearing, wistful
lyricism. A melancholy English horn solo opens the slow movement (shades of
Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez). Although this section rises to a highly
expressive climax, it steers well clear of sentimentality. A substantial cadenza
serves as a bridge to the invigorating dance rhythms of the finale.
ANGELA CHENG, piano
Conductors, critics and audiences around the world have praised Angela Cheng’s
technique and interpretive skills as “magical,” “profound,” “transcendental,”
and “dazzling.” After winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Artur Rubinstein International
Piano Competition, she went on, in 1988, to become the first ever Canadian pianist
to win the Montreal International Piano Competition. During her stellar concert
career, she has played to enthusiastic audiences in London, Salzburg, New York,
Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and in all the major Canadian
cities. A masterful interpreter of Mozart, Ms. Cheng was awarded the Medal of
Excellence by the Salzburg Mozarteum in 1991. With more than 30 concertos at
her commend, her repertoire beyond Mozart embraces a broad array of classical,
romantic and early twentieth-century masterpieces. This disc of Spanish-based
repertoire, NIGHTS IN THE GARDENS OF SPAIN, complements her highly acclaimed
Mozart piano concerto recording (CBC SMCD 5104) on the CBC Records label. Her
elegant keyboard artistry is also on display with her disc of the Clara Schumann
piano concerto for the Koch International label, and her recital of solo piano
music of both Robert and Clara Schumann.
CALGARY PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is considered one of the best and most
versatile orchestras in Canada. Except for a brief interruption between the
two world wars, there has been a symphony orchestra in Calgary since 1910. The
present orchestra was formed in 1955. The CPO moved into the new Jubilee Auditorium
in 1957. In 1985, the CPO found a new home in the Jack Singer Concert Hall in
Calgary’s Centre for the Performing Arts. Besides an extensive schedule of concerts
at the Jack Singer, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra also performs as the
resident orchestra for both the Calgary Opera and Alberta Ballet. The Calgary
Philharmonic Orchestra has toured western and central Canada and the eastern
United States. Hans Graf was appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor
of the CPO in 1994. In 1997, Bramwell Tovey was named Principal Guest Conductor.
Rolf Bertsch was named the CPO’s Resident Conductor in 1999. Mario Bernardi
has been Conductor Laureate of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra since he stepped
down as Music Director of the orchestra.
HANS GRAF, conductor
Born in Austria, Hans Graf studied conducting in Austria and Russia, and
attended masterclasses with such distinguished teachers as Franco Ferrara, Sergiu
Celibidache and Arvid Jansons. In 1979, he won first prize at the Karl Bohm
Competition. Hans Graf has conducted such major orchestras as the Boston Symphony,
Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestre
Nationale de France, NHK Symphony (Tokyo), St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Israel
Philharmonic. He has also appeared at major international festivals including
Aspen, Mostly Mozart (Lincoln Center), Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Bregenz, Maggio
Musicale Fiorentino and Savonlinna. Prior to becoming involved with the Calgary
Philharmonic Orchestra in 1995, Maestro Graf served as Music Director of the
Mozarteum Orchestra and the Landestheater in Salzburg (1984-1994). In October
1997, he extended his contract with the CPO until the end of the 1999-2000 season.
He is also the Music Director of Opera of the Orchestre Nationale de Bordeaux-Aquitaine
(ONBA). Maestro Graf has recorded for EMI, Erato, JVC and, for Capriccio, the
complete symphonies of Mozart and Zemlinski’s Es war einmal.