Hyperion Records

The Habanera, like the tango with which it shares the same rhythm, is a voluptuous, indeed lascivious Spanish dance borrowed from Cuba (La Habana is the Spanish name for the island’s capital). Its principal theme is simple, but it reappears in an unexpected modulation in E major (the work is in D flat) and is then embellished with an ingenious counter-melody in the left hand—with the happiest of results.

from notes by Jean-Paul Sévilla © 2006
English: Roland Smithers