An all-Spanish programme from the CBSO this week brings probably the greatest work for piano and orchestra ever to emerge from the Iberian peninsula, Manuel de Falla’s moody and evocative Nights in the Gardens of Spain.
The soloist is the exciting young Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, who tells me this is proving a very “British” period for him, beginning with a tour of his home country with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sakari Oramo.
“It has been a real pleasure, and a great honour, to share the stage with the BBC Symphony and Maestro Oramo once again,” he says.
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“We first played together at the Granada Festival last year, where we performed Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No.5. In addition, I had the opportunity to record Nights in the Gardens of Spain for harmonia mundi with the orchestra back in 2011, under the baton of Josep Pons, tonight’s conductor.
“The tour was truly wonderful and I am very happy to have topped it off with a concert at the Barbican in London last October, on this occasion with Grieg’s Piano Concerto – a performance that will be released by harmonia mundi in May/June 2015.
As for Sakari Oramo, it is a privilege to make music with him. He is a conductor of innate flexibility and musicality, as well as an exceptional communicator and human being.”
After his CBSO appearance, Javier Perianes will move up the road to Manchester, where he performs Mozart’s G major Piano Concerto K 453 with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. How does he switch so quickly between styles? Or is there something Mozartean in the de Falla?
“I don’t see Mozart in Falla’s music,” he laughs. “It is however possible to find many other influences in Nights in the Gardens of Spain, such as that of Wagner, Debussy, Ravel, and so on. But not really that of Mozart.
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“I am of the opinion that a musician must be prepared to swiftly switch between styles and composers.
In the case of conductors, they are often subject to radical changes within one same concert. This is also true for instrumentalists. And in any case, playing with such prestigious orchestras as the CBSO and the BBC Phil, as well as under the baton of conductors such as Mena there and Pons here, gives me all the assurance I need.”
Javier is a dab-hand at using the media as a message for his music, including being a popular presence on Spanish radio.
“These are episodic collaborations with one of the most popular radio programmes in Spain,” he explains.
"Once every two or three months we devote an entire section of the programme to classical music.
We approach it from various angles: so far we have talked about the music of Chopin and Mendelssohn, but also about chamber music. It is a magnificent dissemination tool through which we can reach out to the general public and share music in a natural manner.”
And his CD programming reflects his concert activity, bringing interesting repertoire from the performance arena into the recording studio.
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“As far as possible I try to harmonise the recital repertoire with the CDs I record for harmonia mundi. It is not always possible, but I find it interesting to play in the concert hall what I present through a studio recording,” he says.
Javier’s latest clutch of CD releases for harmonia mundi includes Beethoven piano sonatas, a Mendelssohn disc featuring a selection from the Lieder ohne Worte along with some of that irresistible composer’s other major piano works, as well as a hugely important compilation of sonatas and other works by the late-baroque/rococo Spanish composer Blasco de Nebra, so little-known in this country.
Does Javier see himself as an ambassador proclaiming the music of his countrymen?
“I don’t see myself as an ambassador of Spanish music,” is his firm reply.
“All I do is play music I believe in sincerely. Blasco de Nebra, Falla, Granados and Albéniz, among others, are extraordinary composers. Their music speaks for itself.”
Javier Perianes performs with the CBSO at Symphony Hall on Thursday, January 22 at 7.30pm. Details on 0121 780 3333.