Manuel de Falla; Federico García Lorca - Encuentro (Estrella Morente; Javier Perianes)

Information

Composer: Manuel de Falla; Federico García Lorca

• Falla - Siete canciones populares españolas
• Falla - El amor brujo
• García Lorca - Canciones españolas antiguas

Estrella Morente, cantaora

Javier Perianes, piano

Date: 2016

Label: harmonia mundi

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Review

This fascinating disc finds Javier Perianes and flamenco singer Estrella Morente shedding new light on the influence of Spanish folksong on both Falla’s music and Lorca’s poetry. We’re so used to hearing classically trained sopranos or mezzos such as Victoria de los Angeles, Teresa Berganza or Shirley Verrett performing the vocal numbers from El Amor brujo that we easily forget that Falla insisted they be performed by a folk singer. We’ve similarly lost sight of the fact that Lorca trained as a composer before turning to poetry, collected and arranged folk music for most of his life and in 1931 recorded his own Canciones españolas antiguas with the flamenco diva La Argentinita, whom Morente acknowledges as a major influence on her work.

Perianes consequently gives us the El Amor brujo piano suite, to which the vocal ‘Cancíon del fuego fatuo’ has been added, before accompanying Morente in Lorca’s collection, and both performances are utterly mesmerising. Perianes plays El Amor brujo with an impeccable combination of sensuality and percussive weight. The Debussian elements, controversial in Falla’s lifetime, are very much to the fore, sharpening the contrast between classical refinement and the earthiness of Morente’s singing. This is a remarkable voice – raspy, sexy, lived-in, knowing – and it’s hard to imagine Lorca’s songs bettered, as she takes us into the world of narrative, emotion and archetype that informs his poetry, as desire and ritual collide, toreadors are loved, lost and mourned, and vitality and death jostle for supremacy.

The disc opens less successfully, however, with Falla’s Siete Canciones populares españolas, which share some of their material with Lorca’s collection. The compositional process here effectively reverses that of El Amor brujo, turning an operatic diva into a flamenco singer rather than anchoring a folk musician in a classical score: Falla himself recorded them with Maria Barrientos, admired in her day as Zerbinetta and Stravinsky’s Nightingale. Morente certainly throws herself into them with formidable commitment. The cries of ‘Ay’ in the ‘Polo’ sound wrenched from her and rightly disturbing. But even using a low transposition, the ‘Jota’ lies fractionally too high, and ‘Nana’ doesn’t float as easily as it should. Even so, it’s a remarkable disc, and essential listening if you care for El Amor brujo or Lorca’s work.

— Tim Ashley

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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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Federico García Lorca (5 June 1898 — 19 August 1936) was a major Spanish poet and playwright who revitalized Spanish poetry and theatre during a brief but influential 19-year career. Best known for works rooted in Andalusian culture, he authored the poetry collections Romancero gitano and Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, and the tragedies Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba. In the early 1930s, he played a key role in launching a second Golden Age of Spanish theatre. His life and career were cut short when he was executed by a Nationalist firing squad during the Spanish Civil War.

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Estrella Morente (born 14 August 1980 in Granada) is a Spanish flamenco singer. Influenced early by flamenco greats, she began performing with her father, legendary singer Enrique Morente, at age seven and debuted publicly at sixteen. Known for her powerful, emotive voice and innovative fusion of flamenco with other genres, she has helped renew and expand the art form. Her debut albums Mi Cante y Un Poema and Calle del Aire  established her as a leading figure. She has performed at major festivals, contributed to film soundtracks, earned numerous awards, and remains a global ambassador for flamenco.

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Javier Perianes (born 24 September 1978) is a Spanish pianist. His international career features performances in prestigious concert halls with leading orchestras and conductors such as Barenboim, Dutoit, Mehta and Dudamel. A versatile recitalist and chamber musician, he collaborates frequently with Tabea Zimmermann and the Quiroga Quartet, appearing at prominent festivals worldwide. Perianes has performed with premier ensembles including the Vienna Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewandhaus. His exclusive harmonia mundi recordings span a wide repertoire from Beethoven and Debussy to Falla and Granados.

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