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Albéniz: Serenata - Marchionda

Albéniz: Serenata - Marchionda

MDG Scene  903 1739-6

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Instrumental


Isaac Albéniz: Espana, Cantos de Espana, Suite espagnola, Mallorca

Stephan Marchionda (guitar)


The American-Spanish guitarist Stephen Marchionda lends new colours to these much loved compositions.

Stephen Marchionda resides in Barcelona and is a proven expert in the field of Spanish music. This is his second release on MDG, his first being Scarlatti Sonatas arranged for guitar, MDG 903 1587.

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2+2+2 recording
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Review by John Miller - May 18, 2012

After a widely acclaimed disc of his own transcriptions of Scarlatti sonatas for harpsichord (Scarlatti: Sonatas - Marchionda), Stephen Marchionda returns with another set of transcriptions, this time of the piano music of Isaac Albéniz. American guitarist Marchionda has built an impressive international concert career, winning a number of prizes and awards along the way, including the Guitar Foundation of America's International Solo, the Segovia International, and the Manuel de Falla. Although he has continuously toured every year since 1990, he currently lives in Barcelona.

Marchionda brings a formidable scholarship to bear on his desire to blend the expressive, colouristic playing of the past with the modern technique, flair and imagination. Taking into consideration the often badly corrupted available editions (partly related to Albéniz's habit of publishing the same work in separate editions for each country) he has produced a new set of transcriptions based on new Urtext editions. This involved correcting many discrepancies of tempo changes, dynamics, melody, rhythm and harmony. In the disc's booklet, he points out how much Albéniz's piano music evokes the sound of the guitar, thus inviting many previous efforts at transcription. However, he feels that many of these "lighten" the music and drag it back into the salon, which Albéniz at his finest transcended. The new transcriptions, allied to modern developments in classical guitar technique, are aimed at restoring the composers fullest Romantic expression in his remarkable musical portrayals of his native land.

Track 1, the Prélude from Cantos de España, immediately transports us to the heat, light and perfumes of the Iberian Peninsula. Marchionda's total technical control and articulation of its rapid fingering and the fiery, abruptly interrupting chords are pure flamenco, while the Prélude's first and second gentler interludes are beguiling in the musing of their lyricism.

A number of items on the programme will be very familiar, but Marchionda makes them sound fresh and glowing anew. Even the hackneyed Tango, the second of the Six Album Leaves Op. 185 (1890), is given a makeover; here an amusingly coy Donna seems to be flirting seductively from behind her open fan, while the Malagueña struts boldly with plenty of gypsy "attitude". I found the fluency of these performances, their confidence and staggering array of tone colours and subtle nuancing to be completely captivating. Marchionda is certainly successful at taking us out of the salon and right into Spanish streets, plazas and bodegas.

A good part of the success of this disc is its fine engineering. Although I am not equipped with the front height speakers, my 5.1 system seems to work very well on this 2+2+2 format. The concert hall at Marienmünster, Germany is a regular venue for guitar concerts and recordings, its unobtrusive airiness giving both intimacy and ample bloom for the instruments character to develop. Marchionda produces an astonishing array of subtle tone colours, aided by the Savarez Blue Corum strings on his guitar (by Antonio Marin Montero, 2008). These strings are known for their expressive possibilities; they have longer sustain and volume and more sound colour, all of which is depicted with great detail by the recording.

MDG's presentation is exemplary, with an attractive an appropriate painting on the cover, and booklet notes in English and German. Irmlind Capelle provides a succinct and up to date biography of Albéniz, correcting certain popular misconceptions, including the belief that the composer was ever a pupil of Liszt. Marchianda then takes over for a very informative analysis of Albéniz's music and influences, with comments on his programme.

Altogether an exceptional performance and recording, insightful and most entertaining. Not to be missed.

Copyright © 2012 John Miller and HRAudio.net

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