Eduardo

The »Iguazú« stands for »Big Water« in the native language and flows through southern Brazil before it flows into the Paraná at the border with Argentina. Shortly before the mouth it "says goodbye" with one of the largest waterfalls on earth, in the center of which the Garganta de Diabolo (Devil's Throat) opens up. The Argentinian guitarist (and lutenist) Eduardo Egüez and his international ensemble La Chimera take the diversity of the landscape along the 1,300 km of this river as a model and present South American "classics" from folk to classical, tango, jazz and bossa nova.

Welcome to "Alchemy of Happiness", music for the Museum of Alchemy of Córdoba. You enter a sound space that invites meditation and work. Alchemy, the ancient art of transmuting matter, is also an art of spiritual transformation. The alchemist goes through the same phases as the raw material on which he operates.

Amadigi di Gaula had its premiere in London in 1715. Its libretto, based on a medieval legend and encompassing such effects as a magically appearing sorceress, reflects the then-fashionable English taste for spectacle in operatic production. Musically, however, the opera is of chamber dimensions, involving just five soloists, and takes in some emotionally intimate moments. In this backward-looking piece – it even ends with a brief ballet – Handel doesn't attempt any structural innovations: the arias and duets are cast firmly in the tripartite da capo format. Still, he finds room for the occasional imaginative touch, as when he uses French-overture gestures in a few of the ritornelli to suggest tragic breadth, or has the two voices in a hitherto contrapuntal duet launch the "B" section in straight thirds.

Ambroisie presents a new edition of one of Handel's Italian period masterpieces, Rodrigo, with an exceptional cast led by Maria Riccarda Wesserling in the title role, María Bayo as his wife Esilena, Sharon Rostorf-Zamir as his young lover Florinda and Max Emanuel Cencic as Fernando. Following Amadigi di Gaula earlier this year, Rodrigo is the second Handel opera on the label conducted by Eduardo López Banzo. The release follows a European tour with the same cast and orchestra, Al Ayre Español, resulting in an interpretation that will undoubtedly lead to a new understanding of the piece almost exactly 300 years after it was written.

This is first recording for Challenge Classics by the very highly-rated Al Ayre Español and its conductor Eduardo López Banzo - and the beginning of a longterm partnership. The sacred cantatas performed on this Hybrid SACD are by José de Nebra, the ‘father’ of Spanish opera and Zarzuela.

The issue of authenticity of Bach’s so-called lute music is one that continues to perplex artists today; most of the recordings of Bach’s lute music range from transcriptions of the cello and certain solo violin suites to other more capriciously chosen works that are made to “fit” the instrument. Indeed, one of the best (and most popular) of such collections, that by Nigel North (Linn Records, “Bach on the Lute”), consists entirely of these violin and cello works, albeit with the not-uncommon idea of such works finding their way into the repertoire of all sorts of related instruments.

Alessandro Scarlatti composed many oratorios to celebrate special events. Colpa, Pentimento e Grazia, subtitled Oratorio per la Passione (Oratorio for the Passion) and created for Easter 1708, evokes the Passion of Christ through a text written by a great roman patron of the time, Cardinal Ottoboni. This is the first recording of the Baroque Orchestra of Seville, conducted by Eduardo López Banzo.

Gustavo Diaz-Jerez is one of the leading composers and pianists in Spain. His compositional output spans all genres, from solo works to opera. His works have been premiered by prestigious ensembles and orchestras. His orchestral work Ymarxa, commissioned by the XXVII Canary Islands Music Festival, was premiered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit. In 2018, his first opera was premiered, La casa imaginaria. This album represents the culmination of more than ten years of compositional work. A unique endeavour in the history of music in the Canary Islands, it comprises seven symphonic poems almost two and a half hours of music which evoke the landscapes and natural beauty of the Canaries.