Spanish

REFERENCE RECORDINGS is pleased to announce SPANISH IMPRESSIONS, our second album with this elite trio. The Hermitage Piano Trio consists of violinist Misha Keylin, cellist Sergey Antonov, and pianist Ilya Kazantsev. The trio has been praised for its “polished and spirited interpretations” (The Washington Post), “absolute rhythmic precision and dynamic exuberance” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), and “powerful, intelligent and deeply moving performances” (The Seattle Times). Their first album on our label, Rachmaninoff, was nominated for three 2020 GRAMMY® Awards in the categories of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance, Best Engineered Album, Classical, and Producer Of The Year, Classical.

The music of Shakespeare's England - ballad tunes, country dances and elegant consorts - seems at first to be quintessentially English. Yet many of these tunes, as popular dances or in the high-art variations of division music, were inspired by Celtic and Spanish styles. In variations, from 17th-century manuscripts and in improvised divisions, 'gypsy' ballads are metamorphosed into exquisite consort music.

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.

In a very specific sense in 16th- and 17th-century Spain and again in today’s Mexico (and elsewhere in Latin America) the Spanish term son denotes a particular genre of music with certain common traits including a close association with dance, text composed of several verses (coplas) and a fundamental harmonic pattern unique to each son.

You might think that the voice of crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli would make a perfect fit with Christmas music, much of which occupies the middle ground between classical and pop that is Bocelli's stomping ground. It turns out to be partially true…

The Spanish Guitar is an epic tale that integrates live performance with real footage of Benise as he voyages across the globe. His masterful playing, brilliant choreography, moving orchestral pieces, couture fashion, and the unparalleled beauty of the Gitanas dancers gives Spanish dance a luminous makeover. Journey to worlds both far away and deeply personal, and remember that hope can be the healing thread in all of our lives.

Chris de Burgh's storytelling prowess comes into fruition on Spanish Train and Other Stories as he carefully grasps the listener's attention with his soft-spoken candor. With songs that are reminiscent of tales told to a young child by his bedside, de Burgh captivates his audience with his serene anecdotes that are enhanced by the music that envelops him. The opening "Spanish Train" is a mysterious yarn about a poker game between God and the Devil, where the victor inherits the soul of a dying train engineer. de Burgh's vocal escalation from serene to flamboyant makes this one of his best songs, as does the marvelous twist at the end of the story.

Romantic Spanish Guitar Vol. 1 is #9 on Billboard’s Top Ten New Age Chart (58 weeks). Armik brings a distinctive style of romance, sensuality, and class to every chart-topping recording he creates. His brilliant contributions to the world of New Flamenco music, his Spanish Guitar virtuosity, and his ability to merge such rhythms as Flamenco, World, and Spanish Guitar have all garnered him thousands of fans from around the world. Armik is also known for bridging the gap and blending the lines between traditional Jazz and Latin Jazz which has brought him additional recognition for being creative as well as authentic. Romantic Spanish Guitar is a brilliant, romantic, and sensual recording. Each song has a special meaning and was carefully chosen, composed, and arranged to leave a musical statement in the listener's mind and heart.