Iberia Suite

%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cstrong%3EYoram+Ish-Hurwitz%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+piano%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3EAlb%26eacute%3Bniz+was+a+man+of+contrasts%3A+self-disciplinary+and+reckless%2C+miserly+and+extravagant%2C+cerebral+and+sentimental.+In+Iberia+he+attempted+to+capture+the+natural+flow+of+ideas+in+a+rational+pattern.+It+is+as+though+the+romanticist+and+classicist+in+him+engaged+in+a+never-ending+struggle.%3Cbr+%2F%3EWhat+most+stirs+the+imagination+in+this+respect+is+that+Alb%26eacute%3Bniz+seems+to+have+continually+intertwined+fantasy+with+reality.+His+life+was+surrounded+by+fantastic+tales%2C+put+into+circulation+in+no+small+part+by+the+composer+himself.+As+a+10-year-old+boy%2C+for+example%2C+he+supposedly+had+run+away+and+crossed+the+Atlantic+as+a+stowaway+on+a+ship+to+South+America%2C+where+he+had+great+success+as+a+piano+virtuoso.+Furthermore%2C+he+always+maintained+that+he+had+been+a+student+of+Franz+Liszt.%3Cbr+%2F%3EHis+biographers%2C+too%2C+were+not+always+able+to+separate+fact+from+fiction.+The+role+that+the+wealthy+Englishman+Francis+Money-Coutts+played+in+Alb%26eacute%3Bniz%26rsquo%3Bs+life+is+often+criticized.+In+return+for+financial+security%2C+the+composer%2C+like+a+latter-day+Faust%2C+is+said+to+have+sold+his+artistic+soul+to+his+benefactor.+Those+who+take+the+trouble+to+look+deeper+into+this+relationship%2C+however%2C+come+to+entirely+different+conclusions%3B+namely%2C+that+the+two+shared+a+close+friendship.+When+Alb%26eacute%3Bniz%2C+disillusioned+after+the+debacle+surrounding+his+planned+opera+trilogy%2C+devoted+the+last+years+of+his+life+to+his+magnum+opus+Iberia%2C+Money-Coutts+selflessly+made+that+possible.%3Cbr+%2F%3EIn+just+over+two+years%2C+a+gravely+ill+Alb%26eacute%3Bniz+wrote+the+12+nouvelles+%26lsquo%3Bimpressions%26rsquo%3B%2C+as+he+called+them%2C+alternating+between+Paris+and+Nice.+In+these+pieces+he+seems+to+have+produced+an+accurate+sketch+of+Spain+around+the+turn+of+the+century.+Or+was+it+the+nostalgia-driven+fantasy+of+a+romantic+who+yearned+for+his+fatherland%2C+considering+the+fact+that+apparently+even+the+authentic-sounding+flamenco+melodies+were+made+up+by+the+composer%3F+Because+of+the+flamenco+elements+and+the+titles+of+the+pieces%2C+Andalusia+is+often+called+the+source+of+inspiration+for+the+cycle.+The+emerging+Impressionism+of+Paris%2C+too%2C+seems+to+have+left+its+mark+on+the+style%2C+not+to+mention+the+Lisztian+virtuosity.+But+the+real+quality+of+Iberia+lies+in+the+originality+with+which+Alb%26eacute%3Bniz+was+able+to+blend+these+elements+and+the+remarkable+power+of+imagination+he+demonstrated+in+the+process.+These+are+what+set+it+among+the+most+beautiful+pieces+of+music+Spain+has+ever+produced.+%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3E