José Maria Gallardo y Miguel Ángel Cortés: Albéniz Flamenco – Sadler’s Wells, London

Composers: Isaac Albéniz and José Maria Gallardo

As the Sadler’s Wells annual Flamenco Festival draws to a close, José Maria Gallardo and Miguel Ángel Cortés’ concert is a valuable reminder of the importance of music to this art form, with equivalent space given to dance and concert performances such as this one across the ten-day event. Celebrating the foundational work of composer Isaac Albéniz, nine pieces are performed in 80 minutes on classical and flamenco guitar. The respect both performers express, in English and Spanish, for the music and its creator means this UK premiere is a closing night highlight.

Collaborating for more than ten years, Gallardo and Cortés find an easy and instinctual onstage partnership, pacing their quite different but complementary instruments to find the differing meaning and tone in each of the songs. These are entirely instrumental and never accompanied by dance, giving the spotlight solely to the performers and the composer they wish to celebrate with Cortés carefully watching his partner throughout for timing and rhythm which synchronises perfectly.

Albéniz, the audience learns, created music for the piano but would often sound it out on a guitar first, giving this show a purity that generates additional connection between the three men. Albéniz is also heavily inspired by place with several of the compositions performed at Sadler’s Wells taking the names of well-known cities and islands including Mallorca and Cádiz. The former includes the story of the creator arriving on land and finding inspiration in the surroundings, translating into the music as a serene and easy pace, suggesting a calmness interspersed with faster taps and thumps as Cortés uses his fingernails against the body of his guitar.

There is a range of tones and expressions across this short concert, demanding different responses from the audience ranging from the melancholy steadiness of opener Rumores De La Caleta to the carousel sounds of Cádiz, a giddy piece that has circular rhythms and a light, almost frothy energy. Gallardo expresses a preference for Córdoba, a mystical piece, he explains, that is inspired by the church bells that Albéniz heard in this location, and it is staged as a call-and-response piece between the musicians who play segments separately before melding their sounds together.

The concert also includes a tribute number penned by Gallardo that attempts to emulate the storytelling and atmosphere of Albéniz’s work. Epitafio a Isaac Albéniz has a romantic feel and an echoing quality that changes speed continually throughout. The light and crisp style could easily score a scene in a wistful French movie and Gallardo’s homage deserves an independent life of its own.

José Maria Gallardo y Miguel Ángel Cortés: Albéniz Flamenco feels like a suitable end to the Flamenco Festival, recognising the importance of those who have shaped the sound of this form as well as foregrounding the performers who create new contemporary connections. With expansive peaks of sounds, emphatic and purposeful playing as well as varied melodies, this programme of works by Albéniz explores the intricate bond between music and performance.

Reviewed on 15 July 2023