Alfonso Gómez - Ramon Lazkano: Piano Works (2019)

What challenges does a composer of the 21st century face when tackling the piano? One could think that its musical possibilities have almost been depleted: on the one hand, György Ligeti’s Etudes (1985–2001) probably stand as the fin-de-siècle pianistic milestone; on the other hand, following in a way Henry Cowell’s pioneering experiments on the piano, both John Cage’s preparations and Helmut Lachenmann’s extended techniques epitomize a deconstruction of the piano’s normalized uses. Some of their followers have however overexploited these novel paths, paradoxically rendering several radical achievements cliché. Aesthetic apriorisms still prevail and composers are often urged to take ideological sides, but Ramon Lazkano belongs to those who, since the nineties, have deftly navigated between tradition and experimentation.

Always curious and with a kind of “responsible feelings” towards the ongoing uplift of the musical repertoire of Western art, Lazkano summons an impressive knowledge of the piano tradition – a surprisingly seldom-found quality among composers nowadays – and genuine interests in current technical achievements and aesthetic trends. Both perspectives catalyse in his personal conception of the piano mu- sic without leading, however, to an accommodative position of postmodern pastiches. On the contrary, he is skilfully able to adapt disparate compositional techniques to each specific purpose within a com- positional project, while the whole artistic project remains unitary. Although his catalogue for piano is varied because of the different circumstances of the commissions he received, a singular feature runs through his whole oeuvre: he treasures a particular sensibility towards instrumental resonance. This leads him to explore several possibilities of reshaping the ostensible mechanical limits of the piano. In this sense, his shrewd intuition for orchestral colours is somehow transposed from the instrument that has accompanied his career since he was a young musician.

Alfonso Gomez, piano
Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (on tracks 1, 2)
Ernest Martinez Izquierdo, conductor (on tracks 1, 2)
Marta Zabaleta, piano (on tracks 4, 6)
Ramon Lazkano, piano (on tracks 6)

TRACKLIST

1. Alfonso Gómez - Hitzaurre Bi: I. —
2. Alfonso Gómez - Hitzaurre Bi: II. —
3. Alfonso Gómez - Petrikhor
4. Alfonso Gómez;Marta Zabaleta - Zintzilik
5. Alfonso Gómez - Laugarren Bakarrizketa
6. Alfonso Gómez;Marta Zabaleta;Ramon Lazkano - Bras dessus bras dessous
7. Alfonso Gómez - Ilargi uneak: I. Izar
8. Alfonso Gómez - Ilargi uneak: II. Ekhi
9. Alfonso Gómez - Ilargi uneak: III. Urtzi
10. Alfonso Gómez - Presencia
11. Alfonso Gómez - Zortziko
12. Alfonso Gómez - Gentle Sway
13. Alfonso Gómez - Suziri