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Track(s) taken from CDA67186

La palomita

First line:
Una paloma blanca
composer
author of text

Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano)
Recording details: December 2000
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: June 2002
Total duration: 2 minutes 14 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Full of rare delights … this well-recorded disc is highly recommendable’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Fink is one of the best singers I’ve encountered in some time, and she goes a long way to making this recording the most enjoyable anthology of Spanish songs I’ve heard’ (American Record Guide)

‘Recommended with enthusiasm’ (International Record Review)

‘A strong case for the inclusion of at least some Spanish Song into mainstream repertoire … Vignoles’s accompaniment is beautifully defined throughout; the perfect foil to Fink’s delicately nuanced, smooth and increasingly sensual singing’ (The Independent on Sunday)

‘One of the loveliest mezzos of our time’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Enthusiasts for song recitals should certainly investigate this disc, which offers one beautiful song after the other, running the gamut from elegant art songs to simple, folk-like tunes’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘The performances are excellent’ (Turok’s Choice)

‘A delightful recital’ (Classics Today)

«On sent qu’elle connaît parfaitement ce répertoire et cette langue» (Répertoire, France)
Whereas Ginastera’s work covered most genres of composition, including opera, ballet, orchestral and film music, Carlos Guastavino (1912–2000) wrote almost exclusively for voice and piano, with some two hundred titles to his credit. Given his feeling for melody and lush piano textures, it is not surprising that his songs are a well-established part of the Argentinean cultural landscape. Cita is typical of his mellifluous style, with the piano’s continuous quaver motion now evoking the gently flowing stream, now picking out the rasping call of the cicada. La palomita has a more archaic flavour (Argentinians, too, can summon up their past when necessary) appropriate to the spirit of its eighteenth-century poem. But La rosa y el sauce, a kind of cross between Rachmaninov’s Vocalise and Granados’s Maja and the Nightingale, is the real thing, a full-blown hit. There are some pieces of music that once heard are never forgotten, and this is one of them. A perfect encore piece, it was a favourite of the great Conchita Badía, who instituted the tradition (sanctioned in the score and followed by all singers ever since) of singing along wordlessly with the piano postlude.

from notes by Roger Vignoles © 2002

Mientras que la obra de Ginastera abarcó la mayoría de los géneros de composición, incluyendo ópera, ballet, música orquestal y bandas sonoras, Carlos Guastavino escribió casi exclusivamente para canto y piano, dando su nombre a unos doscientos títulos. Dada su preferencia por la melodía y por texturas exuberantes para piano, no resulta sorprendente que sus canciones formen una parte establecida del paisaje cultural argentino. Cita es típica de su estilo melifluo, con el trémulo movimiento continuado del piano evocando ya un riachuelo que fluye lentamente, ya resaltando el áspero canto de la cigarra. La palomita tiene un sabor más arcaico (los argentinos también pueden evocar su pasado cuando es necesario) apropiado al espíritu de su poema del siglo XVIII. Pero La rosa y el sauce, una especia de cruce entre Vocalise de Rachmaninov y Maja y el Ruiseñor de Granados, es auténtica, un éxito total. Hay algunas piezas musicales que, una vez que se han escuchado, no se olvidan nunca y ésta es una de ellas. Una pieza perfecta de bis, era una de las favoritas de la gran Conchita Badía, que instituyó la tradición (sancionada por la partitura y continuada, desde entonces, por todos los cantantes posteriores) de cantar sin palabras con el posludio de piano.

extraído de las notas de Roger Vignoles © 2002
Español: Jacqueline Cockburn

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