Isaac Albéniz

Only 4 years old, Albéniz gave public piano concerts in Madrid as a child prodigy. Two years later, he attempted to enter as a pupil of the Conservatoire in Paris, but was refused admission on the grounds of being too young.

Only eight years old, he entered the Conservatory in Madrid, but in the long run, the routine work there failed to satisfy his restless temperament, and he suddenly decided to run away to northern Spain, and later on to South America. Here he made a living by giving recitals. A true infant wonder could draw people in those days, too. Although he wrote his first compositions at the age of 7, it did not become his vocation until he was 30. Albéniz was possibly one of the most gifted child prodigies ever. When he turned 15, he had already toured the United States and South America. At 18, he received lessons from Liszt, whose influence, especially as regards technique, can be traced in his piano music.

Nevertheless, Albéniz is remembered as a composer rather than a pianist. His music - mostly piano works - leaves little doubt about his talent, much less his origin. Suite Iberia is regarded as Albeniz' undisputed masterpiece. Complex and extremely technically brilliant yet with a Romantic expression. (Albéniz himself thought of destroying the work, because he found them virtually impossible for any pianist to play - apart from himself, of course).

Throughout the four books that comprise the 12 pieces of Suite Iberia, the listener is alternately whirled round and taken gently through a variety of moods: sadness, joy, ecstasy, peacefulness, fear, from Heaven to Hell, from love to hate, from joy to sorrow.

Suite Iberia