Manuel de Falla - El sombrero de tres picos; El amor brujo (Ernest Ansermet)

Information

Composer: Manuel de Falla

• El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat), ballet
• La vida breve (Life is Short), opera: Interlude - Spanish Dance No. 1
• El amor brujo (The Bewitched Love), ballet

Teresa Berganza, soprano

Marina de Gabarin, mezzo-soprano

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Ernest Ansermet, conductor

Date: 1961; 1955

Label: Decca

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Review

On almost all counts Fruhbeck de Burgos’s new recording of The Three-cornered Hat, for all its apparent authenticity, is a great disappointment. The recording doesn’t help – it’s warm and pleasant, certainly, but has no glitter, poor inner detail and is altogether too cosy. The very opening, with its dead-sounding timpani, recessed trumpet, and unconvincing ‘Oles’, is hardly arresting, either, although the soprano soloist, Maria Oran, is pleasingly fresh-voiced. The following ‘Afternoon’ evocation is somnambulently evocative, with idiomatic rubato and good wind and string playing, even if the piccolo cheeps are rather restrained, but the ‘Dance of the Miller’s Wife’, and the seductive sequence ‘The Grapes’ are both rather amorphous in effect, and the horn call announcing the ‘Miller’s Dance’ could surely have been more dramatic. The tension seems to grow with the re-entry of the Miller’s wife (track 7), and again the soprano contribution is charming. The Corrigidor’s dance is neat enough, and after the Miller’s return, things pick up for the finale, which gathers a fair degree of excitement, even if it is not exactly earthshaking.

But it so happens that Decca has just reissued Ansermet’s vintage 1961 recording, with the Suisse Romande Orchestra in its Legends series, and although tempos throughout do not greatly differ between the two performances, the contrast in tautness and projection of this brilliant score is quite amazing. Indeed, the comparison is a classic example of the difference between an electrifyingly great performance and a comparatively mediocre one, and between just about acceptable recording and sound which for vividness remains in the top demonstration class – four decades after it was made!

Ansermet’s opening with hard-sticked timpani, extrovert trumpeting and fervently spirited ‘Oles’ creates an altogether different sound world of dramatic primary colours and rhythmic pungency. He has the advantage of the characterful Teresa Berganza as his soloist, and the ballet swings along spontaneously, with infectious zest, the Swiss orchestra on its toes and clearly enjoying every minute. Every detail of Falla’s superb score is sharply and richly focused, the colours lighting up radiantly. Just try the opening of Ansermet’s Neighbours’ dance to hear just how this music should be played, while the horn and cor anglais fanfares which announce the gutsy ‘Miller’s Dance’ could not be more commanding. The finale just grabs the listener, and carrries the music along with thrilling impetus to make a thrillingly expansive climax. This is a truly marvellous performance and the spectacular Victoria Hall recording, produced by James Walker and remastered by Andrew Wedman could hardly be better had it been made yesterday.

Fruhbeck’s El amor brujo is more successful than his Sombrero de tres picos, and here the warmly atmospheric sound is effective enough. He has a vibrantly authentic flamenco soloist who is as dynamic as you could ask, and the slinky rubato of the ‘Pantomime’ sequence is nudged quite seductively. But in the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ the horns are not very pungent and the closing ‘Bells of Morning’ lacks a final burst of passion from the orchestra (though not the soloist).

Ansermet’s alternative is very early stereo (1955) and not as opulent as El sombrero, but it still sounds remarkably lustrous. The performance is not quite as distinctive as its companion, but is still brightly etched, ‘El circulo magico’ being quite bewitching; and the strings as well as the horns bring splendid bite to the ‘Fire Dance’. The finale does expose the weakness of the Suisse Romande Orchestra in the middle strings, but has far more passion than Fruhbeck generates. This Decca reissue really is a remarkable CD, fully worthy of its Legend status.

— Ivan March

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Manuel de Falla (23 November 1876 – 14 November 1946) was a leading Spanish composer of the early 20th century. After relocating to Paris in 1907, he came under the influence of Debussy, Dukas and Ravel. Upon his return to Madrid in 1914, he produced major works including El amor brujo, El sombrero de tres picos, and Noches en los jardines de España, solidifying his international reputation. In later years in Granada, he composed El retablo de Maese Pedro and a Harpsichord Concerto, reflecting his shift toward a neoclassical style. Falla spent his final years in Mallorca and subsequently in Argentina.

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Ernest Ansermet (11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969) was a Swiss conductor. He studied composition with Ernest Bloch and conducting with Felix Mottl and Arthur Nikisch. He became conductor of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1915. In 1918 he founded the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, leading it until 1967 and earning international recognition through extensive tours and recordings. Ansermet was a distinguished interpreter of early 20th-century French and Russian music. His own compositions include a symphonic poem, Baudelaire song settings, and an orchestration of Debussy's Épigraphes antiques.

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