Albert Cano Smit

Musical Evening from Spain with pianist Albert Cano Smit

In the late 19th century Spain’s culture blossomed.  In the arts Picasso, Dali, and Miro embodied the 20th century’s modern art movement. Garcia Lorca and Luis Buñuel lead a new movement in poetry, theater, and film.  Antoni Gaudi and Lluís Domènech created a new Spanish-centric design in architecture. 

The evening’s tour of musical Spain starts with Las Goyescas, written by Enrique Granados based on paintings by Francisco Goya. The suite of seven pieces was so popular that in 1916 New York’s Metropolitan Opera premiered an opera setting of the original piano work which Granados then performed at the White House later that year.  

The second half includes works by three other significant Spanish composers: Mompou, Albeniz, and de Falla.   

The compositions of Frederic Mompou have a simplicity that reflect his close bond with Eric Satie and Maurice Ravel in Paris.  The works from the Iberian Suite by Isaac Albeniz contain some of the most challenging piano passages in the entire literature. The evening ends with Manuel de Falla’s signature piece Danza de Fuego – Fire Dance.