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Spanish Classics - Manuel Blasco De Nebra: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 1 / Pedro Casals
Naxos

Spanish Classics - Manuel Blasco De Nebra: Complete Keyboard Sonatas Vol 1 / Pedro Casals

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Details

Composer
BLASCO DE NEBRA, MANUEL
Artist
Pedro Casals
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Aug 25, 2009
Catalog #
8572068
UPC
747313206872

About



BLASCO DE NEBRA Keyboard Sonatas: Nos. 1– 5; 107–112; in d; in G • Pedro Casals (pn) • NAXOS 8.572068 (76:16)


This is the first of a projected set of three CDs devoted to the extant piano sonatas of Manuel Blasco de Nebra (1750–1784) by pianist and musicologist Pedro Casals. During his short life, Blasco de Nebra is said to have composed some 170 works, though we don’t know in what form nor for what media he wrote. According to Casals’s interesting and informative notes, only 26 keyboard sonatas and six pastorellas are known to survive. Six of the sonatas were apparently published as op. 1, a copy of which is in the Library of Congress. The remainder are known from manuscripts from the Monastery of Montserrat (Catalonia), Encarnación Monastery of Osuna (near Seville), and the Santa Clara Convent (Seville.) Blasco de Nebra was born and died in Seville and, except for two years in Madrid, where his uncle, the zarzuela composer José de Nebra had connections at court, his entire life was spent in the Andalusian city. It may be straddling the fence to call these pieces “keyboard sonatas”: the prominence of Alberti bass figuration alone would seem to argue in favor of the piano. It’s worth noting that one of the more prominent Iberian piano makers, Francisco Pérez Mirabal, flourished in Seville contemporaneously with Blasco de Nebra. Two of Mirabal’s pianos survive. He, like other Iberian makers, had the advantage of basing their instruments on the imported Florentine pianos of Cristofori and Ferrini, unlike Silbermann in Germany, who was forced to experiment on the basis of simplistic published diagrams of the Cristofori action. In any case, it’s obvious from the persuasive performances by Casals (albeit on the modern piano) that Blasco de Nebra’s sonatas are well crafted, often quite beautiful, and never less than effective.


Without being derivative, these pieces bring to mind the Catalan composer, Antonio Soler. Certainly the sonatas of Soler’s master, Domenico Scarlatti, seem a constant point of reference. This recording presents Blasco de Nebra’s sonatas chronologically. The earliest (Nos. 107–112, deriving from the Osuna Encarnación and Santa Clara manuscripts) are cast in single-movement, binary form, like Scarlatti’s. The latest recorded here (Nos. 1–5, from the Montserrat Abbey manuscript) preface each Allegro movement with an extended Adagio. Most of the sonatas unfold in two-part textures; their inventive motivic structure is often triadic and highly ornamented. Blasco de Nebra was active among several organists who played at the cathedral in Seville. It’s not surprising that, in the couple of sonatas that seem to effectively employ tone-painting, church bells are evoked: festal peals in Sonata No. 111, for instance, and in the Adagio of Sonata No 2, somber chimes. Casals brings a rhythmic vitality and crisp touch to his performances, appropriately achieving his varied affects with scarcely any pedal. Given his decision to present the sonatas in the order written, it will be interesting to observe Blasco de Nebra’s stylistic evolution in future releases.


The piano sound (in this case an instrument that could have used a touch-up during the recording) leaves something to be desired, possibly due to overly close microphone placement and a less than resonant space. But the playing is so good and the music so interesting that one quickly forgets the less-than-optimal technical aspects of the recording. Casals’s performances, authoritative and imbued with a love of the music, will no doubt attract greater attention to this little-known but obviously gifted composer. Recommended.


FANFARE: Patrick Rucker

Tracklist 18 tracks

  1. 1 Keyboard Sonata No. 107 in G Major (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript) 04:17
    Track
    1
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata No. 107 in G Major (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript)
    Duration
    04:17
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  2. 2 Keyboard Sonata No. 108 in E Minor (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript) 02:41
    Track
    2
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata No. 108 in E Minor (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript)
    Duration
    02:41
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  3. 3 Keyboard Sonata No. 109 in A Minor (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript) 02:47
    Track
    3
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata No. 109 in A Minor (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript)
    Duration
    02:47
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  4. 4 Keyboard Sonata No. 110 in D Major (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript) 05:19
    Track
    4
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata No. 110 in D Major (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript)
    Duration
    05:19
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  5. 5 Keyboard Sonata No. 111 in A-Flat Major (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript) 04:06
    Track
    5
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata No. 111 in A-Flat Major (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript)
    Duration
    04:06
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  6. 6 Keyboard Sonata No. 112 in C Minor (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript) 03:10
    Track
    6
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata No. 112 in C Minor (Osuna Encarnacion Monastery manuscript)
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  7. 7 Keyboard Sonata in D Minor (Santa Clara Convent manuscript) 02:34
    Track
    7
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata in D Minor (Santa Clara Convent manuscript)
    Duration
    02:34
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  8. 8 Keyboard Sonata in G Major (Santa Clara Convent manuscript) 01:44
    Track
    8
    Title
    Keyboard Sonata in G Major (Santa Clara Convent manuscript)
    Duration
    01:44
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  9. 9 I. Adagio 07:00
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Adagio
    Duration
    07:00
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  10. 10 II. Allegro 03:30
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Allegro
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  11. 11 I. Adagio 05:59
    Track
    11
    Title
    I. Adagio
    Duration
    05:59
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  12. 12 II. Allegro 03:30
    Track
    12
    Title
    II. Allegro
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  13. 13 I. Adagio 06:46
    Track
    13
    Title
    I. Adagio
    Duration
    06:46
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  14. 14 II. Allegro 03:17
    Track
    14
    Title
    II. Allegro
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  15. 15 I. Adagio 05:40
    Track
    15
    Title
    I. Adagio
    Duration
    05:40
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  16. 16 II. Allegro 02:55
    Track
    16
    Title
    II. Allegro
    Duration
    02:55
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  17. 17 I. Adagio 07:26
    Track
    17
    Title
    I. Adagio
    Duration
    07:26
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals
  18. 18 II. Allegro 02:51
    Track
    18
    Title
    II. Allegro
    Duration
    02:51
    Composer
    Manuel Blasco de Nebra
    Performer
    Pedro Casals