United Kingdom Clandeboye Festival 2025 [3] – Soler, Diaz-Jerez, Albéniz, Debussy, Ravel: Gustavo Diaz-Jerez (piano). Clandeboye Estate, County Down, Northern Ireland, 22.8.2025. (RB)
Antonio Soler – Sonata No.24 in D minor; Sonata No.10 in B minor
Gustavo Diaz-Jerez – Metaludios, Book 1: ‘Homenaje a Antonio Soler’
Isaac Albéniz – Iberia, Book 1
Debussy – Estampes: ‘La Soirée dans Grenade’
Ravel – Gaspard de la Nuit
Gustavo Diaz-Jerez is a Spanish pianist and composer who has achieved wide acclaim both for his performances and his compositions. This was his first visit to the Clandeboye Festival. He will be giving the UK premiere of his Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2026.
Diaz-Jerez opened his recital with two contrasting sonatas by Antonio Soler. He followed this up with his own homage to Soler which took elements from both sonatas, integrated them and transformed them into a contemporary work. The performance of Soler’s D minor Sonata was tasteful and expressive with the ornaments exquisitely executed. Diaz-Jerez handled the difficult hand crossing in the B minor Sonata with aplomb. He characterised the different sections of the piece beautifully, bringing drama to the minor-key sections and a more playful, humorous approach to the major-key section. I had mixed feelings about Diaz-Jerez’s own piece. I enjoyed the lively opening section although I was less persuaded by the more contemplative final section.
Isaac Albéniz’s Iberia is a highly virtuosic work which was written between 1905-09. Each of the twelve pieces in the suite are impressionistic evocations of different parts of Spain. Diaz-Jerez coaxed a sultry atmosphere from the rich textures of ‘Evocación’ and evoked a wistful, sensuous sense of longing. I loved the joyful dancing quality which he brought to ‘El Puerto’ with its vibrant rhythms and contrasting tone colours. ‘Fete-Dieu à Seville’ is a programmatic piece depicting a religious procession in Seville. Diaz-Jerez painted a vivid picture of the procession as it gradually came into view and skilfully evoked the bell and guitar effects. The central section was delivered with enormous tenderness and Diaz-Jerez played with a wonderful sense of freedom as he navigated his way through different keys. He played the final section with its dense textures with enormous clarity before a slow spellbinding coda.
‘La Soirée dans Grenade’ is the second piece in Debussy’s suite, Estampes. The music mimics guitar strumming to evoke images of Granada in Spain. Diaz-Jerez skilfully synthesised the Spanish folk elements with the Debussy’s distinctive impressionistic effects. The shifts in mood and tempo were very well handled.
Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit was written around the same time as Iberia in 1908. Each of the three movements are based on poems by the French Romantic poet, Aloysius Bertrand. It is an exceptionally demanding work: Ravel’s express intention was to make the third movement, ‘Scarbo’, more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey. Ravel was not an accomplished pianist and was unable to play the outer movements himself, although there is a recording of him playing ‘Le Gibet’. Diaz-Jerez achieved an impressive degree of textural clarity in the opening section of ‘Ondine’. There was a very minor memory slip, although he recovered well from this. Ondine’s seductive song insinuated its way through Ravel’s watery soundscape. Given Ravel’s dynamic markings, I wondered if some sections of the piece could have been even quieter. Diaz-Jerez evoked stillness and a growing sense of dread in ‘Le Gibet’ while the tolling B-flats were sustained beautifully. I liked the fact that humanity did not seem to be entirely extinguished in this performance. ‘Scarbo’ was rhythmically tight and very fast and Diaz-Jerez did an excellent job depicting the impish character and darting movements of the grotesque goblin. In the latter section of the piece I wondered if he could have given himself a little more time and space in the build up to the climax.
This was a first-rate, highly virtuosic and colourful recital from Gustavo Diaz-Jerez.
Robert Beattie