IGLESIAS, ALBERTO

(1955- )

Although he wrote his first full feature film score for Alfonso Ungría'sLa conquista de Albania(Conquering Albania, 1984) and his watershed film in Spain wasVacas(1992), which started a long and innovative series of collaborations with Julio Medem, Alberto Igesias' work as composer only became widely known after his ethnically inflected soundtrack for Pedro Almodóvar's 1999Todo sobre mi madre(All About My Mother) made him into one of the most internationally recognized musicians for film.In recent years, after a number of international projects, he has obtained two nominations for Academy Awards, forThe Constant Gardener(Fernando Meirelles, 2004) andThe Kite Runner(Marc Forster, 2007). He has also won sevenGoyasforLa ardilla roja(The Red Squirrel, Julio Medem, 1993),Tierra(Earth, Medem, 1996),Todo sobre mi madre, (All about My Mother, Pedro Almodóvar, 1999),Los amantes del círculo polar(The Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Medem, 1998),Lucía y el sexo(Lucía and Sex, Medem, 2001),Hable con ella(Talk to Her, Almodóvar, 2002), andVolver(Almodóvar, 2006). An impressive list of titles, which suggests Iglesias' original and substantial input in the work of strong auteurs.

He studied electronic music with F. Schwartz in Paris and Electroacústica in Barcelona. His early soundtracks includeLa muerte de Mikel(Mikel's Death, Imanol Uribe, 1984) andLuces de Bohemia(Bohemian Lights, Miguel Ángel Díez, 1985).Vacashad a remarkable electronic score, very unusual in the Spanish context, which tended toward more conventional treatments of film music, and he continued to pursue an original approach to soundtracks. His first collaboration with Almodóvar was forLa flor de mi secreto(The Flower of My Secret, 1995), a film that featured a mixture of original and other themes adapted from popular sources. For his next Almodóvar collaboration,Carne Trémula(Live Flesh, 1997), he chose flamenco adaptations of Latin American music. Iglesias continued his collaboration with the director in projects as varied asLa mala educación(BadEducation, 2004) andLos abrazos rotos(Broken Embraces, 2009). Recent international projects include Stephen Daldry'sThe Reader(2008) and Steven Soderbergh'sThe Argentine(2008).