NEWS

The Strad Issue: November 2025

Description: Utterly committed performances bring these Spaniards to life

Musicians: Trio Lirico, Josu de Solaun (piano)

Works: Casas: Piano Quartet in D minor. Zurrón: Piano Quartet in D major

Catalogue number: MARCHVIVO MV014 

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This release – of two world-premiere live recordings – continues the label MarchVivo’s work in promoting neglected Spanish music. Both pieces stem from the early years of the 20th century, when homegrown Spanish chamber music was nascent.

Vicente Zurrón (1871–1915), a pupil of Ruperto Chapí (best-known now for his zarzuelas), wrote his Piano Quartet in 1902 for the first competition run by the Philharmonic Society of Madrid. It was the winning entry, though there were claims that Chapí had overruled the other judges in favour of his pupil. Bartolomé Pérez Casas (1873–1956) was the founder of the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra and described in an obituary as ‘the highest and most senior figure in Spanish music’.

Casas’s is the weaker piece, with longueurs in the first and third movements, but even here Trio Lirico and pianist Josu de Solaun produce an unswervingly committed performance. There’s a haunting quality to the muted violin tone in the second-movement Balada, and an effortless lyrical flow in the slow third movement.

It’s Zurrón’s Piano Quartet that really takes wing, a piece with clear roots in Austro-Germany but with the occasional subtle Spanish reference. The performance by turns exudes exuberant sparkle, weighty introspection and joyful virtuosity. The balance and acoustic are ideal, the booklet note offers useful context, but above all the playing shines throughout, both individually and collectively.