アルベニス: ピアノ曲集

アルベニスの最高傑作とされている「イベリア」を中心にピアノ曲が収録された3枚組。
演奏者のエステバン・サンチェス(1934-1997)はスペインのピアニストで、フェルッチョ・ブゾーニ賞、アルフレッド・カゼッラ賞、ディヌ・リパッティ・メダルなど、多くの重要な国際賞を受賞しています。フランスのピアノ界の権威、アルフレッド・コルトーは、エステバン・サンチェスを「音楽的天才」と断言し、クララ・ハスキルも同様の発言をしています。またダニエル・バレンボイムは「スペインはどうしてこのクラスの演奏家を隠していたのだろうか」と語っています。
スペインのピアニズムの真髄ともいえるアルベニスの正統的演奏集として再発売します。

Luckily for us Brilliant Classics has brought together in one package the three albums of Isaac Albeniz's piano music performed by Esteban Sanchez and previously released on the Spanish label Ensayo. Sanchez, who died in 1978, was a pianist who chose to teach rather than make a career out of performing. There is little to no information on him in most classical music reference resources. However, he could easily have become a well-known concert artist had he wanted to. In these works by his fellow countryman, Sanchez seems to become one with the music, so naturally does it flow through his fingers. At times his playing is just awe-inspiring. There is a real brilliance and life in it, especially in Albeniz's later works. The festival scene in Corpus Christi en Sevilla from Iberia is vibrant and exuberant, but it ends very reverently. It is not smoothly polished, which is not to say that it is technically imperfect, but it feels real and truly descriptive, not just a glassy reflection of a festival. In Albeniz's earlier works, such as Espana, which are by no means as virtuosic, but still full of Spanish flavor, many pianists have to work harder to control their tone, colorings, and dynamics, and that extra effort can often be heard. Not so with Sanchez. Sanchez's playing sounds entirely instinctive. These recordings were made between 1968 and 1974, so the sound is not perfect, but it is pretty good. Also, the highest notes of the piano sound too brassy on the first disc, but overall, the value of the performances outweighs any sound problems in the set.