Sebastián de ALBERO (1722-1756)
Recercata, fuga y sonata No. 1 in D [13:25]
Recercata, fuga y sonata No. 2 in A [19:15]
Recercata, fuga y sonata No. 3 in B flat [16:37]
Recercata, fuga y sonata No. 4 in G [15:49]
Recercata, fuga y sonata No. 5 in C [20:29]
Recercata, fuga y sonata No. 6 in E [23:20]
Alejandro Casal (harpsichord)
rec. 2014, Sputnik Studio, Sevilla
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 95187 [2 CDs: 108:55]
Spanish keyboard music of the 18th century is almost exclusively
identified with two figures: Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Soler. Other
composers who were active in this field are largely overlooked. Not
that Sebastián de Albero is a completely unknown quantity. His keyboard
works have been preserved in two manuscripts. One of them, Sonatas
para clavicordio, has been recorded several times, either complete
or partly. In contrast, the second collection, Obras, para clavicordio,
o piano forte, has hardly been given any attention. As far as I
know, only Andreas Staier recorded two of the six pieces with the unusual
title of Recercata, fuga y sonata. The present disc includes
all six of them.
Sebastián Ramón de Albero Añanos was born in Roncal in Navarra and was
educated as a keyboard player. As a boy he sang in the choir of Pamplona
Cathedral and in 1748 he was appointed first organist of the Royal Chapel.
At that time Domenico Scarlatti also lived and worked in Madrid. Albero
stayed here until his death.
The set of six pieces recorded here is quite unique. First of all, the
recercata is an old term which was common in the Renaissance, but was
completely out of fashion in the 18th century. In the 16th century this
word was used by Diego Ortiz for series of diminutions. Albero's
recercatas have nothing to do with them. His recercatas are inspired
by the French préludes non mesurés of the 17th century. They
include some modulations and they come without any bar-lines, which
requires some improvisatory skills from the performer. Notable is that
at the first bar we find the indication ad libitum. Alejandro
Casal, in his liner-notes, doesn't give an explanation. Maybe
this indicates that these recercatas can be omitted when the player
doesn't have the capabilities to realise them.
The main part of these pieces are the fugues. These are mostly very
long: the longest on this disc is 12:42. They are strictly in two parts;
the themes are quite long, sometimes eight or nine bars. To be honest,
I don't find them that interesting. These fugues also include
long sequences of the same kind of figures, which is immediately discernible,
if one looks at the scores. The last section is called sonata.
It is in binary form; both sections have to be repeated. These are considerably
shorter, and sometimes the number of voices is extended to three. The
last sonata includes some very strong dissonants.
I found it rather tiresome to listen to these pieces. After a while
I came to the conclusion that the music was not very good. I took into
consideration that maybe I needed to listen a second time and then the
music would reveal its qualities. However, I found a disc in my collection
with two of these pieces, recorded by Andreas Staier. Listening to him
I could hardly believe these were the same. His imaginative performance
of the recercatas is in strong contrast to the rigid interpretation
of Alejandro Casal, who does little more than playing the notes. Staier
takes the fugues at the much higher speed: for the Fugue in G
he needs just 5:52, whereas Casal takes 7:23. However, it is not only
the tempo which is different. Staier creates a more differentiated picture
through agogic means and variation in articulation, Casal's tempi
are rather uniform, and so is his articulation. That makes the frequent
repeats of the same figures hard to swallow. The same goes for the sonatas,
although here the differences in tempo are less significant. Here Casal
rightly respects the repeats, which Staier ignores.
On the basis of this experience I had to change my mind about these
pieces. They seem to be well worth being performed and recorded, but
unfortunately the interpretation of Alejandro Casal is hardly a good
argument for them. He plays a fine instrument, a copy of an Iberian
harpsichord, built in Lisbon by Joachim José Antunes, which is part
of the Finchcocks Collection in Goudhurst (Kent, U.K.). In fact, it
is a more appropriate instrument for this repertoire than the German
harpsichord Staier plays. But its effect is nullified by the rather
rigid and unimaginative playing of Casal.
Johan van Veen
