Alba Ventura

Auditorio de Tenerife programmes, as part of its piano concerts, a performance by Alba Ventura.

Throughout the history of music, respect and admiration among artists have been driving forces and inexhaustible sources of inspiration for new musical compositions. This programme explores the inspiration of two accomplished composers, Mompou and Granados, who reinterpreted and to some extent paid homage to the work of two other renowned artists: the Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin and the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya. An explicit reference on which to reinterpret and redirect all artistic potential, starting with Variations on a Theme of Chopin, a refined and austere creation of Mompou based on Chopin’s Prelude in A major, Op. 28, No. 7. In his Variations, Mompou’s exquisite harmonic treatment and innate sensitivity allowed him to achieve an optimally full and rich sound with an impressive economy of resources.

Granados’ piano suite Goyescas was inspired by the paintings of Goya on exhibit in the Prado Museum in Madrid. Initially subtitled The Gallants in Love, the pieces evoke a gallant Spain that Granados wished to personalise: “I wanted to give Goyescas a personal touch; a blend of bitterness and grace (...) The rhythm, colour and the clearly Spanish lifestyle, with its moments of sentimentality: at times suddenly affectionate and at others dramatic and tragic, just as Goya’s work portrays”.

The first piece, titled Los Requiebros (The Compliments), is imbued with the flavour of the Spanish song form known as the ‘tonadilla’, with a chivalric spirit and featuring two highly varied motives underpinned by the rhythm of another Spanish musical form known as the ‘jota’. Conversely, La Maja y el Ruiseñor (The Maiden and the Nightingale) evokes dreamlike melancholy that concludes with the trills of a songbird that responds to a cherished maiden without altering the enchantment of a pianistically refined nocturne. Granados also composed a seventh piece titled El Pelele (The Strawman), which is based on a final sketch of Goya that eventually served as a model for the creation of a tapestry. A fresh and clever portrayal that, over time, has become one of his most popular works.

The programme concludes with a return to the source of inspiration. If we consider that the piano was Chopin’s most intimate confidant, his cycle of 24 preludes is a maximum expression of simplicity and purity that eludes any attempted classification. Composed in the 24 major and minor keys in order of the circle of fifths, the preludes are admirable in their diversity and exquisite harmonic richness. The renowned pianist and composer Franz Liszt said of the preludes that “they possess the essence of freedom and greatness that is inherent in ingenious works”.