FREE UK SHIPPING OVER £30!

Soler - Sol de mi fortuna (Harpsichord Sonatas from the Morgan Library)

Label: Harmonia Mundi

Cat No: HMC902232

Barcode: 3149020223222

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Instrumental

Release Date: 13th November 2015

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Artists

Diego Ares (harpsichord)

Artists

Diego Ares (harpsichord)

About

Who would have thought that the principal source for the music of Padre Antonio Soler was still waiting to be discovered? The manuscript acquired by the Morgan Library of New York in 2011 has proved to be the richest extant collection of sonatas by Soler - 29 of them are unpublished.

For his first recording on harmonia mundi, the young harpsichordist Diego Ares reminds us of the powerful impression the composer made on a grandee of Spain in 1765: ‘Fray Antonio Soler produces finer sonatas from day to day’. Listening to this disc, one cannot but agree: each sonata is indeed a world unto itself.

"I felt it was the best way to express my gratitude for the opportunity I have been given here to share these wonderful pieces. They reveal to us the pupil of Scarlatti, the ‘scolare dil Sr. Scarlati’; and whether they transport us to the streets of Madrid, evoke the carillon he played on feast days, or hold us spellbound with his harpsichord in the intimate environment of his cell, the sonatas of Antonio Soler, radiant with light and joy, really do seem to emanate from a sun, that ‘Sol de mi fortuna’!" - Diego Ares [from his excellent booklet note]

Diego Ares was born in 1983 and studied the piano with Alis Jurgelionis and Aldona Dvarionaité and the harpsichord with Pilar Cancio, Richard Egarr, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher and Jesper B Christensen. The harpsichord maker Joel Katzman, the pianist László Gyimesi, the harpsichordists Rafael Puyana and Genoveva Gálvez, and the study of historical recordings have guided his work and his research.

Diego Ares appears in concert throughout Europe, chiefly in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, France and Benelux. He also performs in Japan. He began making recordings in 2006, and his two most recent releases on Pan Classics, devoted to Soler and Scarlatti, were both highly acclaimed by the press (Diapason d’Or, Excepcional in Scherzo magazine).

Track Listing:
1. Preludio No.3 in C major
2. Sonata No.1 in C major: Andante
3. Sonata No.2 in C major: Prestissimo
4. Sonata No.17 in A minor: Andantino
5. Sonata No.18 in A minor: Allegro
6. Sonata No.40 in D minor: Allegretto
7. Sonata No.38 in D major: Allegro Non Tanto
8. Sonata No.11 in B flat major: Andantino
9. Sonata No.12 in B flat major: Allegro
10. Interludio
11. Sonata No.7 in A major: Allegretto
12. Sonata No.8 in A major: Allegro Sofrible
13. Preludio No.4 in F minor
14. Sonata No.13 in F minor: Andantino
15. Sonata No.14 in F minor: Allegro
16. Sonata No.42 in A flat major: Andantino
17. Sonata No.43 in A flat major: Allegro
18. Interludio
19. Sonata No.25 in B minor: Andante
20. Sonata No.26 in B minor: Allegro
21. Sonata No.30 in D major: Allegro
22. Sonata No.31 in D major: Andantino
23. Interludio 'El Inredo Se Deshace'
24. Sonata No.15 in C major: Andantino
25. Sonata No.16 in C major: Allegro
26. Canon a 4: Viva la Fama de Esse sol de mi Fortuna

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Preludio No. 3 In C Major
2

Sonata No. 1 In C Major : Andante
3

Sonata No. 2 In C Major: Prestissimo
4

Sonata No. 17 In A Minor : Andantino
5

Sonata No. 18 In A Minor: Allegro
6

Sonata No. 40 In D Minor: Allegretto
7

Sonata No. 38 In D Major: Allegro Non Tanto
8

Sonata No. 11 In B-Flat Major: Andantino
9

Sonata No. 12 In B-Flat Major: Allegro
10

Interludio
11

Sonata No. 7 In A Major: Allegretto
12

Sonata No. 8 In A Major: Allegro Sofrible
13

Preludio No. 4 In F Minor
14

Sonata No. 13 In F Minor: Andantino
15

Sonata No. 14 In F Minor: Allegro
16

Sonata No. 42 In A-Flat Major: Andantino
17

Sonata No. 43 In A-Flat Major: Allegro
18

Interludio [D. Ares]
19

Sonata No. 25 In B Minor: Andante
20

Sonata No. 26 In B Minor: Allegro
21

Sonata No. 30 In D Major: Allegro
22

Sonata No. 31 In D Major: Andantino
23

Interludio 'El Inredo Se Deshace'
24

Sonata No. 15 In C Major: Andantino
25

Sonata No. 16 In C Major: Allegro
26

Canon A 4: Viva La Fama De Esse Sol De Mi Fortuna

Europadisc Review

The Catalan composer Antonio Soler (1729–1783) spent most of his life in the service of the Spanish court, based in the Hieronymite monastic community of El Escorial. Although he wrote a large amount of sacred music, today he is remembered chiefly for his keyboard music, in particular for the hundred or so Scarlatti-style sonatas that form his chief legacy. Many of these works – like Scarlatti's – were designed as pairs (often in slow–fast couplings), although some have since become 'divorced' from their original partners.

The young Spanish harpsichordist Diego Ares already has recordings of Soler and Scarlatti sonatas to his name on the Pan Classics label. Here, in his debut recording for Harmonia Mundi, he explores some of the sonatas in a recently unearthed manuscript acquired by the Morgan Library in New York. It's a sumptuous selection, restoring several works to their original pairings.

This is music of abundant character and real charm, and it helps enormously that it's performed here on a splendid 2009 copy of a 1734 Sevillian harpsichord that has real depth of sonority, with a beautifully resonant bass. Ares knows exactly how to deploy rubato for maximum effect and, although there are numerous recordings of Soler's keyboard works in the catalogue, both the repertoire and the performance guarantee this new disc a special place.

These particular sonatas all appear to have been written in the mid-1750s, before Soler was ordained. They range from the elegantly poised (for example, numbers 38 and 15) to the forthright and athletic (the bass line in No.2, or the quick-fire repeated notes in No.18). One of the most striking pieces is No.11 in B flat, with its variations in mode (major/minor) and the exotically creeping chromaticism of its concluding paragraph. The 'pastoral' Sonata (No.30) contains distant drones and at times seems like an Iberian echo of Vivaldi's 'Spring' from the Four Seasons.

Alongside the sonatas, Ares plays two introductory preludes (tracks 1 and 13), as well as linking interludes (tracks 10, 18 and 23) which reflect Soler's own preoccupation with how to connect separate works in loosely connected keys. Ares's own fascinating notes demonstrate just how carefully thought-out his programme is.

Beautifully recorded and handsomely presented (right down to the choice of booklet cover), this is a wonderful collection that is sure to appeal to anyone who values the delights of late Baroque and early Classical keyboard music. And it marks an exciting label debut from a musician of whom we're sure to hear more!

Reviews

played with unimpeachable virtuosity and musicianship by Diego Ares … What makes this recital all the more pleasurable is that Ares plays these works as a continuous sequence: once you start you are in for the duration, and very compelling and enlightening it is too. Colin Anderson

Classical Ear 26 February 2016