Anatomias
The CD in your hands is the result of a determined and independent search for sound. It represents a commitment shared between the composer, performer and producer to popularize a little known musical repertoire; one which has been largely ignored in recent contemporary Spanish compositional history, but one that is nevertheless deserving of recognition. In the search for this sound, we began with the composer Luis de Pablo (b. Bilbao, 1930), that indefatigable seeker with the wide intellectual profile. With his sterling reputation as an artist, a study of Luis de Pablo is an essential ingredient to any understanding of contemporary Spanish music. Above all, we observed the behaviour of this leading composer; assuming, in his case, it stemmed from a deep personal conviction; one which led him to manage, promote, and disseminate contemporary creativity in all of its many expressions. Zahir Ensemble & Juan García Rodríguez.
BOOKLET
Luis de Pablo
Luis de Pablo. Sounds of the Imaginary Avantgarde.
The CD in your hands is the result of a determined and independent search for sound. It represents a commitment shared between the composer, performer and producer to popularize a little known musical repertoire; one which has been largely ignored in recent contemporary Spanish compositional history, but one that is nevertheless deserving of recognition.
In the search for this sound, we began with the composer Luis de Pablo (b. Bilbao, 1930), that indefatigable seeker with the wide intellectual profile. With his sterling reputation as an artist, a study of Luis de Pablo is an essential ingredient to any understanding of contemporary Spanish music. Above all, we observed the behaviour of this leading composer; assuming, in his case, it stemmed from a deep personal conviction; one which led him to manage, promote, and disseminate contemporary creativity in all of its many expressions.
So much so, that if we start our notes approaching the work, opening this record in chronological order, we must consider the relevance of a transcendental moment in the life of the composer. In fact, we find Luis de Pablo´s Chamber Concerto towards the end of a decade (the seventies) marked firstly by the founding of Alea-Música Electrónica libre in 1970, together with Eduardo Polonio and Horacio Vaggione; and secondly by the celebration of the so-called “end of the festival of experimental art”, the “Encuentros de Pamplona” of 1972, in which De Pablo acted as ideological and aesthetic manager; thirdly, by the composition of Kiu (1979-1983), an opera based on Alfonso Vallejo’s El cero transparente, which comprised a paradigmatic change in De Pablo´s aesthetics; and finally, by the end of the Franco regime, whose interest in the artistic Avantgarde had led to a relationship that was ambiguous and controversial with the generation of 58, of which Pablo is a member.
Along this line, it is necessary to point out that 2018 marks sixty years of the Madrid formation of Nueva Música, a short but intense and decisive group.
“Young composers living in Madrid: Fernando Ember, [Manuel] Moreno-Buendía, Cristóbal Halffter, Ramón Barce, Alberto Blancafort, [Antón] García Abril, Luis de Pablo – have founded the group Nueva Música […] whose purpose will be to disseminate their own works and those of the most significant foreign composers of the current time, creating a place for the aesthetic tendencies of young Spanish and foreign music”.
As this quote illustrates, Luis de Pablo was one of the major Spanish actors among the emblematic figures of the central European Avantgarde, although later these differentiated into various compositional techniques.
Zahir Ensemble
The trajectory of the Seville-based group demonstrates their commitment to performing the vast repertoire of our time, encompassing a wide range of aesthetic styles and significant artistic and historical relevance, which is generally absent from traditional programming. To give an idea of the group’s national and international scope, beyond its members, it’s worth highlighting their participation in European festivals and venues such as the Taschenopern Festival in Salzburg (Austria), Eröffnungsfest der Salzburger Festspiele (Inaugural Festival of Salzburg, 2005), Solitär Saal of the Mozarteum University (Salzburg), Musique en Cité(s) (Marseille, France), Concert Hall of the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw (Poland), and in Spain at events such as the Contemporary Music Cycle of the Seville City Council, Contemporary Music of Córdoba, Festival de las Artes No Camiño in Lugo, International Music Festival “A orillas del Guadalquivir” in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Seville Guitar Festival, Mostra Sonora de Sueca in Valencia, Smash Festival in Salamanca, Third Millennium Music Cycle in Madrid, and the Projecte Rafel Festival (Rafelbunyol, Valencia), among others. They have also performed in venues such as the Villamarta Theatre in Jerez, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Auditorium 400 of the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, Bilbao Conservatory, and Alhambra Theatre in Granada. Especially notable for the programs presented and the number of editions in which the ensemble has participated is their presence at the Contemporary Music Cycles organized by the Regional Government of Andalusia at the Central Theatre in Seville (2007-08 and 2010-17). Highlights include the Spanish premieres of works such as The Fall of the House of Usher by Philip Glass, In Vain by G.F. Haas, ASKO Concerto by Elliott Carter, Ballet Mécanique (original version) by G. Antheil, Proverb by Steve Reich, and Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing by John L. Adams. The ensemble also organizes its own concert series in the city of Seville (with the support of the University of Seville), which this year marks its fifteenth edition. The group has released seven CDs, including monographs dedicated to José María Sánchez-Verdú (Verso, 2009), which was chosen as “Exceptional Album of March 2010” by Scherzo magazine, and another dedicated to Schoenberg (Naxos, 2011). They also produced two CDs of young Spanish composers (2010 and 2011), published by Injuve. In 2019, Zahir began an artistic collaboration with the IBSClassical label, with their first album being Anatomías, dedicated to solo and ensemble works by Luis de Pablo, followed by a second album featuring works by César Camarero, and their latest release focusing on Eneko Vadillo. After the current work, two more projects are set to be released in 2025: one featuring vocal works by Alberto Ginastera, and the other, a monograph dedicated to Gabriel Erkoreka.
Juan García Rodríguez
Juan García Rodríguez is recognized as one of the most versatile conductors on the Spanish music scene. His ability to tackle a wide range of repertoire, from Classical works to the most avant-garde compositions of the 21st century, has established him as a highly respected and sought-after conductor. Educated at prestigious institutions, including the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, where he studied with Dennis Russell Davies, and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Warsaw.
García Rodríguez has collaborated with numerous renowned orchestras, including the Bruckner Orchester Linz, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, ÖENM, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, and Paris Opera Orchestra. This has enabled him to successfully interpret complex and rarely performed works, such as Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony, Ligeti’s Concertos, Georg Friedrich Haas’s In Vain, and Raphaël Cendo’s Introduction aux Ténèbres. He has conducted in prominent venues such as the Great Hall of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Solitär Saal of the Mozarteum, Brucknerhaus in Linz, Auditorio 400 in Madrid, Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Teatro Central in Seville, Palau de Les Arts in Valencia, Great Hall of the Chopin University in Warsaw, Cemat Resil Rey in Istanbul, and Endler Hall at Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Additionally, he has worked on the operatic repertoire in institutions such as the Teatro de la Maestranza (Seville), Teatro Villamarta (Jerez), Landestheater Salzburg, Landestheater Linz, and Opéra National de Paris Bastille. As the founder and director of the Zahir Ensemble, he has actively promoted contemporary music in Spain, premiering numerous composers like Luis de Pablo, Cristóbal Halffter, José María Sánchez-Verdú, César Camarero, and Gabriel Erkoreka. His leadership of the Orquesta Sinfónica Conjunta, an innovative youth orchestra project between the University of Seville and the Conservatorio Superior “Manuel Castillo”—praised by critics for the intensity and quality of its performances and the originality of its programming—has created a remarkable impact on Seville’s music scene. During his tenure as Music Director of the Taschenoper Festival in Salzburg (2005–2017), he solidified the festival as a space of innovation and avant-garde in contemporary opera, commissioning and premiering over 40 new operas by key composers of today’s scene, such as Reinhard Febel, Christian Ofenbauer, Sarah Nemtsov, Michael Beil, Brigitta Muntendorf, Lisa Streich, and Stephan Winkler. Juan García Rodríguez holds a Master’s in Orchestral, Choral Conducting, and Composition from the Mozarteum University of Salzburg and a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Warsaw. He is currently a full member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts “Santa Isabel de Hungría” in Seville and a professor at the Conservatorio Superior “Manuel Castillo.”
Soloist
JULIO MOGUER piano
Julio Moguer is one of the most versatile pianists in today’s music scene. Musician of a solid academic training, he studied at some of the most prestigious European conservatories like Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid (where he was awarded the “Honours Prize”), Conservatorium van Amsterdam (Holland) and Hochschule für Musik Köln (Germany) with professors Javier R. Van-Baumberghen, Anselmo I. de la Campa, Jan Marisse Huizing, Stanley Hoogland (fortepiano) and renowned French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard. He completed his training with the advice of other prominent personalities such as Philippe Entremont, Claude Helffer, Michele Campanella, Barry Douglas, Håkon Austbø, Pavel Nersessian or Malcolm Bilson. A prize winner at numerous competitions, Julio Moguer has performed throughout Europe, in such prestigious venues as Auditorio de Zaragoza, Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, Salzburg Mozarteum, Koncertowa Hall of the F. Chopin University (Warsaw), Sala Joaquín Turina (Seville), Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid) or Teatro Central (Seville). Always interested in different approaches to music, Julio Moguer has worked closely with leading composers such as Reinhard Febel, José María Sánchez Verdú, Luis de Pablo, José Manuel López López, César Camarero, etc. Since 2006 he has collaborated regularly with cutting edge Zahir Ensemble. Moguer also develops an intense career as chamber musician, specially as member of Trio Vandelvira. Julio Moguer holds a piano professorship at Conservatorio Superior de Música “Manuel Castillo” de Sevilla.
Dieter Nel violoncello
Dieter Nel has been a core member of Zahir Ensemble in Seville since its founding, in which capacity he has performed contemporary works at many major Spanish concert venues and made critically acclaimed recordings. Born in South Africa, Dieter studied at the University of Stellenbosch with Magdalena Roux, after which he moved to Austria to continue his training in Salzburg and Graz. Lessons with members of the Hagen String Quartet, masterclasses with Wolfgang Boettcher, Clemens Hagen, and Frans Helmerson as well as a further study of baroque Cello with Kristin von der Goltz in Munich rounded off his formal musical education. He is not only active as a soloist and chamber musician, but has also performed regularly in ensembles and orchestras like the Camerata Salzburg, ÖENM (Austrian Ensemble for Contemporary Music), the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, and the Wiener Akademie. His musical activities include concerts at major international music festivals throughout Europe (among others at the Salzburger Festspiele and the Festival de Musique de Menton), in Mexico and South America, China, Japan and South Africa. Currently Dieter plays on a cello made by Albertus Aloysius Blanchi in 1921.
Marie Teresa Pfiz viola
Marie Teresa Pfiz grew up in Salzburg / Ohio. She studied in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl, at the Juilliard School NYC with Heidi Castleman, Wolfram Christ in Freiburg and H.-P. Ochsenhofer in Vienna. She won several prizes in national and international Viola Competitions, such as Brahms Competition in Pörtschach and the Tertis Competition on the Isle of man (UK). She plays regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Concentus Musicus Vienna and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst others.
