Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Giulio Tampalini Transcribes Isaac Albéniz

For the fourth of the eight videos in the Midweek Melodies series of performances released by OMNI on-Location, as curated by the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts, guitarist Giulio Tampalini turned to music by Isaac Albéniz. Many readers probably know by now that Albéniz was a virtuoso pianist. Over the course of my writing, I have encountered two collections of his complete works for piano, both requiring nine CDs. Many of those pieces have been arranged for guitar.

Giulio Tampalini playing in one of the recesses in the Church of Santa Giulia surrounded by the artwork (from the fourth Midweek Melodies video)

Today’s selection was Albéniz’ Opus 202, “Mallorca.” No arranger was cited, and it would not surprise me to learn that Tampalini prepared his performance directly from the original piano score. Once again, the performance was captured on video at the Church of Santa Giulia, which is part of the Monastic complex of San Salvatore-Santa Giulia in the Italian city of Brescia. Last week I observed that “the interior of that space is a feast of artwork, thus engaging the eyes while the ears are occupied  with Tampalini’s performance.” Tampalini played “Mallorca” in a different area of the church. This was just as rich in artwork as was last week’s video; and, as can be seen above, the physical setting suggested that it may have been used for some form of service for a limited number of parishioners.

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