Antonio Rey

Francisco Guerrero is still insufciently well known by comparison to his great contemporary and compatriot Victoria. El León de Oro here afrms his rightful place in the history of the Golden Age of Spanish polyphony.

Nothing could be more appropriate in celebrating Victoria de los Angeles’s 75th birthday than this extensive conspectus of her recordings of Spanish song over 40 years. It’s hardly possible in a brief review to do justice to such an astonishing achievement on the part of the Spanish soprano; indeed had she sung nothing else her place in recorded history would be assured.

From the opening notes of the overture to the final curtain, Emilio Sagi’s classic, triumphant production fully brings to life all the elegant wit and theatricality of Mozart’s comic masterpiece.
Leading baritone Ludovic Tézier shines as the lustful Count Almaviva who attempts to obtain the favours of Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna (Isabel Rey), while Luca Pisaroni gives a feisty performance as Figaro. Conductor Jesús López Cobos masterfully captures the enchanting score. A witty yet profound tale of love, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Though Harnoncourt may be a little over-cautious, what's lost in joie de vivre is gained in clarity and nuance. Similarly, the singers have plenty of space to enunciate and cherish every rolling phrase. Although Carlos Chausson makes an appealing everyman character as Figaro, he and everyone else must perform (sometimes literally) in Rodney Gilfry's domineering shadow. Gilfry's Alamaviva is a swaggering counterpart to his Don Giovanni, with the same almost overwhelming sexual presence and charisma; no wonder, then, that Eva Mei's Countess is so jealous, or that Isabel Rey's Susanna seems genuinely attracted despite her better judgment. The ensemble cast are uniformly delightful and, unusually, are all good actors: when the Count and Countess squabble, Gilfry and Mei really work themselves into a fine passion. (Mark Walker)

Seldom has an album lived up so well to its name. With each track, crafted from a combination of precious elements and featuring a whole host of guest stars, Juan Carmona puts the flamenco music so dear to his heart into the arena with jazz, that musical heavyweight, and world music. At times very outward-looking, at times introspective, with this album, he brings his art to a new level and paints a bold self-portrait underpinned by rich variety, freedom, the pleasure of new discovery and exceptionally high standards. The guitarist truly is an alchemist who has found the philosopher’s stone by focusing on the music alone.

On this, the largest set ever compiled of one of the last century's most popular composers, we may not only renew our familiarity with the Concierto de Aranjuez, or perhaps with one of the other ever-melodious guitar concertos that sustain his reputation with audiences, but also discover chamber, instrumental, choral and especially vocal works which testify to a creative imagination confident in the formation of its style but never satisfied with repetition, one which responded directly to poetic and lyric inspiration, and transformed its ideas with unfailing skill and respect for the idiom under consideration.

With a capaciously-filled boxset of a dozen CDs made up of attractive individual programmes and entitled The Spanish Guitar, Glossa reintroduces the superb playing of José Miguel Moreno. And with recordings from 1991-2004 which still sound fresh and vivid today. A new essay and all the sung texts are included in the physical booklet that completes this limited-edition set.

Various Artists - Los 100 Mejores Cantes y Toques del Flamenco (2010) {5CD Box Set Universal Music Spain}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.32 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 891 Mb
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© 2010 Universal Music Spain | 0602527549774
Flamenco / Fado / Cante Flamenco

A 5CD luxury box set to listen to the best flamenco music. The well known musicologist Flamenco Faustino Núñez has personally selected 100 of the best tracks on this box set. The flamenco greats: Paco de Lucia, Camaron, Enrique Morente, Tomatito…alongside up and coming talent such as Pitingo, Miguel Poveda, Mayte Martin, Estrella Morente and many more.