biography

CASTELLO. The ability to memorize scores allowed the man from Castellón Leopoldo Querol Roso feats as unusual as face three performances and with different repertoires, in less than twenty hours, in different locations. Also, he was able to perform up to four concertos for piano and orchestra in a single event or perform Chopin’s entire piano work at the Ateneo de Madrid, in seven concerts scheduled from Monday to Sunday. Querol became, through effort, one of the most sought-after musicians of the 1930s and 1940s. The pianist managed to become the performer with the greatest number of performances in leading entities such as the Castellón Philharmonic Society, and was part of twelve of the 24 concerts that the Valencia Philharmonic programmed between April 1937 and November 1938, seven of which were consecutive.

For many professionals there is no doubt, Querol was one of the greatest Spanish performers of the 20th century and, according to Mario Mason Sharp, he is undoubtedly the “best pianist” born in the province of Castellón. However, his contribution has sometimes gone unnoticed. This is why this professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the Castelló Professional Conservatory of Music has decided to give shape to his life and work in a biography. Leopoldo Querol Roso. A life at the piano (1899-1985)edited and published with the help of the Universitat Jaume, seeks to vindicate the memory, sometimes forgotten, of this man from Castellón.

Masó himself says that he had not thought about Querol when he had to choose the topic for his doctorate. The idea of ​​projecting the biography of a musician related to Castellón seemed interesting to him, but he didn’t know who. His name came by chance, when in the middle of a family meal and talking to his father, he mentioned a pianist from Vinaròs. The next day, he started investigating and it was clear to him, it would be Querol. “On several occasions I was asked why I was going to dedicate my research to a performer, instead of a composer, which only encouraged me to continue. Traditionally, the history of music has always been a story of composers and their works, but musicology, since the end of the 20th century, is expanding towards an area whose importance had been overlooked until then: interpretation. Music, unlike other arts, depends on a necessary intermediary, the performer , who is the one who takes that music from the score to the final recipient, the public. This means that the figure of the performer should not only not be ignored, but should be studied according to the great importance it has for the final result,” says Masó.

In the case of the musician from Vinaròs, Querol appears in passing in the history books of 20th century music. Only the Dictionary of Valencian Music and the Dictionary of Spanish and Ibero-American Music collect his bibliography in a more extensive way. Although, his contributions were recorded in many newspapers and archives such as the López-Chávarri Fund of the Valencian Library. And, despite this lack of documents, Querol was well known for, among others, having helped found the Francisco Tárrega International Guitar Competition, which is in its 56th edition, a fact that earned him some time later to be named Adopted Son of the town. And among his greatest milestones is also being the first pianist to record the entire Iberia Suite by Albéniz, “a capital work” of the Spanish repertoire. But there is more.

The golden thirties

It would not be, however, until 1919 when his concert career began with his debut at the Ateneo de Madrid. But the ‘golden’ years for the musician came in the 1930s, when Querol became one of the leading pianists. There was one fact that, according to Masó, was key. The French composer Maurice Ravel In 1929 he premiered a concerto for piano and orchestra in Paris, which three months later he transferred to Spain, in a concert with the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra and a little-known Querol as a soloist. The success among critics was such that a new audition was scheduled the following week, which was even better. From then on, the Castellón native’s prestige only increased and at the end of 1934 he managed to perform with the three main Madrid orchestras in just six days apart.

However, in periods of dictatorship, the man from Castellón was able to overcome “the purification” of the Franco government without problems, thanks to his closeness with the Minister of Education, José Ibáñez Martín; and he was even appointed musical advisor to Radio Nacional de España in 1947. Now, as his memoirs say, Querol “did not hesitate to help musicians with political difficulties as much as possible”, the most obvious case being that of the composer Vicent Garcés or in the province Matilde Salvador, who was banned from the premiere of the opera The Bearded King’s daughter for being an opera in Valencian, and also by a young woman. In this sense, Querol’s efforts were key for it to finally be released.

On the other hand, Masó assures that Querol became “the omnipresent pianist” of the first post-war period, embarking on a series of tours throughout Spain, taking charge of the reactivation of many societies, closed since the beginning of the war. “And neither It can be forgotten that the Vinarosian participated in the inaugural concert of the National Orchestra of Spain on July 25, 1940. He was even able to play on a tour of the Philippine Islands.

The difficulty of renewing

It was, however, from the 1950s onwards that the importance of the Querol concerts decreased, due to their lack of adaptation to new interpretative currents. As Masó explains in his book, the pianist’s style began to mesh poorly with the new predominant aesthetics after World War II, which led him to quickly lose ground compared to performers of the next generation such as Alicia de Larrocha, Esteban Sánchez o Joaquín Achúcarrowith much clearer and more contained interpretations

Although, the pianist always continued – as demonstrated – linked to music. In 1969 he became the first academic to inaugurate the new Music Section of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Valencia, an investiture to which he added in 1972 that of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid.

But above all things, the social work of the Castellón native cannot be forgotten. “The lack of demand that he expressed in performing in smaller venues and venues allowed for the first time that many music fans could listen to works that are more than usual today. This was even more important in a genre like piano. and orchestra, not even hesitating to perform alongside local music bands, allowing, as in the case of Castellón, its inhabitants to hear works such as the Concert of Schumann, that of Grieg or the second concertos of Brahms or Rachmaninov”, concludes Masó.

The first presentation of the book will take place on November 23, at 7:00 p.m., at the Menador in Castelló.

2023-11-07 05:05:42
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