Maria Sanchez

Two iconic works by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) were premièred in Madrid in 1915, El amor brujo [Love, the Magician] and Siete canciones populares españolas [Seven Spanish Folksongs] – two works that brought into being the Cadiz-born composer’s life purpose of sublimating Hispanic folklore. Artistic manifestations derived from the soul of the people, especially the vitality and dynamism of Andalusian sonorities and cante jondo [deep song], became his most fertile source of inspiration.

This CD recording is the result of a succession of different moments of musical happiness and the encounter between the solo harpist of the Basel Symphony Orchestra Aurélie Noll, and two exceptional musicians. María Cristina Kiehr (soprano) and Yolena Orea-Sánchez (violonchello) have put their talent and artistic sensitivity at the service of this wonderful repertoire. The special sound of the harp creates a kind of new relief here and lends this unusual album its special charm. The program includes works by Reynaldo Hahn, Tchaikovsky, Manuel de Falla and Gabriel Fauré.

Saxophonist and vocalist María Grand presents her new project, “Anohin”, a gently intricate duo with wondrous pianist Marta Sánchez. The music, a mix of song, spontaneous duo improvisations, and through-written music, effortlessly weaves technical virtuosity with a direct connection to transcendent sound. Most of all, it is music that is focused on the heart, on the freeing act of sound-making and listening.

"The present recording is the fruit and consequence of a project that the Brühl Castle Concerts and the Capella Augustina have initiated for several years as part of their Haydn Festival.

The album Falla 1915 offers us the opportuni- ty to experience a composer reborn through two of his masterpieces. In Siete canciones populares españolas, the orchestral imagination of composer Francisco Domínguez enriches the original piano accompaniment without losing any folkloric substance. The first version of El amor brujo rediscovers a title that was created to be much more jondo [deeper], rawer and with more gypsy soul than the ballet it later became. Passion and spirit, sensuality and colour come to- gether to highlight what Falla loved and de- fended most: the preservation of our memory and our cultural heritage.

As early as the 1820s, the Dessau court Kapellmeister Friedrich Schneider conceived the plan to compose a coherent series of four full-length oratorios dealing with the life of Jesus. Although Schneider did not realize his original plan of a tetralogy, three complete oratorios were nevertheless composed, forming a coherent trilogy (Christ the Child, Christ the Master, Christ the Redeemer). With the edition published in 2021 and this first recording of Christus das Kind, a foundation has been laid for the revival of this forgotten trilogy, more than 190 years after it's premiere.