On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 13:12:18 EDT, Sheli Nan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Louisa Morales performs... and we who listen are fascinated by
>the exotic intensity of her focus..................

Something that I (and others who heard her in Vermillion) found remarkable
in her playing is a de-emphasis on what Tilman, I believe, has referred to
as "Spanishness."  That is, I didn't hear as much highlighting
(overpronunciation?) of guitarisms, castanet and flamenco effects, etc. in
her playing as I've heard in others' (mine included).  Tilman seems to be
alluding to the phenomenon when he writes, "We might find that, say, a
Spanish pianist playing Albeniz sounds to us less 'Spanish' than a
Canadian conductor with Ravel."  The need to seem Spanish is, I suppose,
less urgent if one actually is Spanish.

I remember my first tussle with the Falla concerto.  The senior member of
our ensemble was a fine oboist who had many years earlier performed the
work with Christie in Buffalo.  After our initial run-through of the third
movement, he declared, "This is a jota!," by which he justified a tempo of
around 160 to the quarter note.  The Bernsteinesque bounce was moderated
only slightly for the actual performance.  In contrast, the tempo and feel
on the Puyana recording I'd been listening to (to acquaint myself with the
ensemble parts) was much broader, less jota-like than our oboist would
have preferred.

Now Luisa studied with Puyana (but also Koopman), which begs the
question:  Is the parallel I'm drawing here the result of nature (i.e.,
national origin), nurture (i.e., student-teacher relationship), a
combination of the two, or none of the above?  A question perhaps better
posed to her?

In any event, a most memorable evening of Soler and Scarlatti.  The spirit
of Landowska seemed to be hovering over the hall.


Rob Utterback