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Sound Recordings Reviews--Verdi and FallaBy Claire Wrathall |
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8 romanze per tenore e orchestra - Verdi; 7 canciones populares - Falla Orchestrated by Berio - José Carreras - English Chamber Orchestra "It would have been impossible for me to orchestrate these expressive and idiomatic romances alla Verdi", writes Luciano Berio of Verdi's eight romances in the essay which accompanies this disc. "Instead I have not approached the orchestration in a homogeneous way, because these eight pieces, for all their Verdian style, are quite different from each other in expressive character musical density and the quality (often abysmal) of their texts". What it is remarkable about Berio's orchestration of the Verdi romances is how modern they sound without, at the same time, losing any of their essentially 19th-century lyricism. Originally scored for piano and voice, the songs as they appear here take on an operatic scale and grandeur, particulary the impassioned "Il misterio".The Falla cycle, similary, loses none of its burning, innate Spanishness. The orchestral arrangement brilliantly enhances the urgent hammering nature of the songs -the percussion and brass stand out, and the use of real castanets, in place of a piano's mimicking of the sound, is especially effective. The sound is reminiscent of Sondheim more than anything, particulary on the lively dance "Jota" and the love song "Cancion". José Carreras' performance here is exemplary. He is, inevitably, supremely assured and lyrical in the Verdi songs and it is a joy to hear such mellifluous Spanish in the Falla.
Copyright © 1992 Opera Now |
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Source: Opera Now Date Published: January 1992 |
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