A street sign in his hometown of Alicante—Calle del Pianista Gonzalo Soriano—and an Avinguda in Villajoyosa, which he loves so much today, are hardly reminiscent of this great figure of the Spanish keyboard. It’s the 110th anniversary of Gonzalo Soriano’s birth and his name, as always, remains silent. A shameful neglect of Spanish culture with some of its heroes.
Gonzalo Soriano from Alicante is not only one of the Spanish piano figures of all time, but also one of the greatest performers born in this musical geography, the Valencian Community. It is the land of marching bands and wind instruments, but it is also the land of a generation of pianists in which Soriano is a reference and inspirational leader, along with José Iturbi from Valencia and Leopoldo Querol from Castellón. A growing Mediterranean dynasty, born between the Vinaròs and Orihuela, including names like Mario Monreal and Fernando Puchol, and even today Carlos Apellániz, Ricardo Descalzo, Carles Marín, Josu de Solaun or Xavier Torres.
“Clean, straightforward, fresh, safe play at the service of a moderate, discreet sensibility and the best taste”. These old but true words from a review published in the Diario de Alicante on January 26, 1929, following the presentation recital of a gifted 15-year-old boy, already defined the key to who will soon become one of the greatest in the world. Spanish piano: Gonzalo Soriano, born in Alicante (Alicante, 1913 – Madrid, 1972). Just like his memory and legacy today, 110 years after his birth and half a century after his death, he is referred to as “the gardener of Spain” for how much and well he played and recorded “Nights in the Gardens of Spain”. , an almost unnoticed pianist even among piano students.
premature death
He died prematurely, collapsing at the age of 59 of a heart attack in his Madrid apartment. fate”. Like Argenta, Gonzalo Soriano had the time to solidify an important career and leave behind absolutely exceptional documents that set a benchmark in the Spanish music universe. He was a fine and refined pianist with a deep sensibility and a happy sense of play, he had gone through a difficult time – The Civil War interrupted his career; at the time, the Franco regime wasn’t exactly the ideal framework for an artist who lived as a couple with the American John Ross and was unwilling to marry or communicate with anyone or anything. He fought for the Republic in Madrid – Wounded – and in the first years after the war he made his living accompanying Estrellita Castro and above all Mariemma. From a humble family – his father was a shop assistant and his mother a housewife – his talent soon emerged.In Alicante, first Antonia Bayona and then Rafael Rodríguez He studied with Albert, then in Madrid privately with José Cubiles from Cádiz.
In the tumultuous mid-1940s, he established himself as a major figure of the Spanish piano. Music, old and new, always in their programmes: Soler, Rodrigo, Conrado del Campo (Piano Concerto “Evocación de Castilla” premiered at ONE and composer podium in 1943), Esplà, Montsalvatge, Rodríguez Albert, Pittaluga, Bacarisse, Halffters and of course which are Granados, Albéniz, Falla and Turina. three recordings of “Nights in the Gardens of Spain” (two with Argenta and one with Frühbeck de Burgos); Alongside Ernesto Halffter’s “Portuguese Rhapsody” and Turina’s “Symphonic Rhapsody”, both were directed by Nacional, the first by Odón Alonso and the second by Argenta. His last recording, which he completed just weeks before his unexpected death, was the entire set of “Spanish Dances” by Granados, released by EMI posthumously.
Legend is the recording of “Concerto de Falla” (recorded in Paris in January 1962, with Frühbeck de Burgos and the Conservatory Concert Ensemble Orchestra, at the same sessions of the legendary version of “Nights…”). “For me – Frühbeck admitted to García del Busto – it was the best version of ‘Noches’ I’ve ever done, and look, I’ve done it many times and with great pianists, and even later recorded it with Alicia de Larrocha and Joaquín Soriano. , but for me the way he sang the music was unique».
Point and apart, he deserves his close association with Victoria de los Ángeles, an artist with close sensitivity, with whom he often tours and with some recordings that are history. “Gonzalo’s art is filled with such profound simplicity that he was one of those types of beings who could reach higher worlds, the flamboyant, the artificial, the most memorable to the non-exhibitionist.” «His pianism – adds Victoria de los Ángeles – was not for today’s ‘treble popularity’ […] His popularity was in the elite minority, which always reserved for him an honorable position. And great artists, including pianists, placed the laurel crown without the need for advertising virtuosity». They left forever the inaccessible recordings of “Seven Songs” and other pages of Falla, Rodrigo (“The Holy Shepherd” is a miracle), or songs from the French repertoire: Debussy, Ravel, Hahn, Ibert…
International career
Although he distanced himself from the world of concert with occasional appearances in his final years, he had time to develop an important international career through his performances with major conductors and orchestras in the 50s and 60s. The Sonada was an interpretation of Schumann’s “Concerto” with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Mitropoulos (1954) or Mozart’s “Concerto in D minor” with the London Symphony (1955/Argentina). His performances with masters such as Adrian Boult, Eugene Goossens, Ígor Markévich, Jean Martinon, Hans Rosbaud, Mario Rossi or Carl Schuricht and his acclaimed presence on the international stage confirm the universality of who is not ‘Spain’s best gardener’. “The Other Iturbi” Gonzalo Soriano was and will be one of the most refined and exemplary leading pianists in Spanish piano history.