A great Fantasia by Elias Parish Alvars based on themes by Italian opera.
An abridged version of this work has achieved great popularity in a wonderful recording by Nicanor Zabaleta. Entitled Introduction, Cadenza and Rondo (London, Stainer & Bell, 1976), it includes only the final sections of the piece, starting at the Largo. This truncation is however not unproblematic: all of Parish Alvars’ compositions begin and end in the same key (or in the relative major), which is not the case here. Moreover, the rhythmic and harmonic development of the movements is negated, and, above all, the exposition of the Fantasia’s main theme is lacking.
This is the original piece as Parish Alvars composed and played.