Ensemble La Romanesca - Musica en Tiempos de Velazquez

Almajano contributes to nine tracks on this superb disc, which has the substantial additional bonus of including some magnificent vihuela and guitar playing from Moreno. The vocal items have the disadvantage for non-Spanish-speaking listeners of lacking translations, but there is no mistaking the personality that exudes from a group drawn mainly from the 17th- century zarzuela repertory. Here the infectious vivacity of the singing overcomes all language barriers, whilst the extract from the latest zarzuela represented, Sebastián Durón's Salir el Amor del Mundo, has a refrain (estribillo) of heart-wrenching beauty, voice duetting with viola da gamba to memorable effect. Equally unforgettable are the three songs by José Marín taken from the so-called Cambridge Song Book-if you want to know why I fell instantly in love with the Almajano voice, listen to the haunting Aquella sirra nevada (track 12), with its perfectly turned ornaments and the inimitably expressed aching chromaticism.

MÚSICA EN TIEMPOS DE VELÁZQUEZ
Music in the time of Velázquez
GCD 920201

Performers

ENSEMBLE LA ROMANESCA
directed by José Miguel Moreno

Marta Almajano, soprano
José Miguel Moreno, vihuela
Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba
Juan Carlos de Mulder, theorbo
Nuria Llopis, harp
Toni Millán, harpsichord

Production details

Recorded in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, in November 1991 and April 1992
Engineered by JOSÉ MIGUEL MORENO
Edited by CARLOS CÉSTER
Produced by LOURDES UNCILLA

Total playing time 62:45

Design: CARLOS CÉSTER
On the cover: Diego Velázquez, Felipe IV a caballo, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Program:
1 SANZ / MARTÍN Y COLL Folías
2 HIDALGO Peynándose estaba un olmo
3 HIDALGO ¡Tonante dios!
4 MARTÍN Y COLL Canarios
5 MARÍN Ojos, pues me desdeñáis
6 SELMA Susana passeggiata
7 HIDALGO De las luces que en el mar
8 HIDALGO Cuydado, pastor
9 SANZ Canarios
10 HIDALGO Ay que sí, ay que no
11 RUIZ DE RIBAYAZ Españoletas
12 MARÍN Aquella sierra nevada
13 SELMA Fantasía
14 MARÍN No piense Menguilla
15 GUERAU Marionas
16 DURÓN Sosieguen, descansen
17 HIDALGO Ay, que me río de Amor
18 SANZ Lantururú