Newsletter 12 Spring 2002

From your Chairman

Dear Members

ILAMS, now in its 5^th year, is going from strength to strength, as our commitment to promote the music of  Iberia and Latin America influences artists, concert promoters and radio stations alike. The amount of Hispanic music being performed nowadays is about 4 to 5 times higher than before ILAMS was born. Furthermore, discography seems endless, with continual new discoveries, as you can see from our list of recent releases, and we had insufficient space to list all recordings!

We can now look forward to more excitement, with the forthcoming Gala Concert, this year in Sevenoaks, our new Composition Competition and the Regent Hall Summer Festival. Preparations for our next visit to Spain, this time to Granada, are developing smoothly.

On a sad note, I was sorry to hear that member, Emma Cecilia Hare passed away in February. We all offer our condolences to her husband and family.

But on a happy note, I would like to welcome all our new members and look forward to meeting you all at our next event.

                                                                                                                                             Alberto Portugheis

Web Watch

Our new website address is www.ilams.org.uk which enables you to access current news and concert information. Look out for concert reviews too! If you know of any interesting concerts or events please let us know, so we can post the details.

Grammy News

At the 44^th Annual Grammy Awards on 27 February, ILAMS’ Council Member José Serebrier conducted a Suite from Bernstein’s ‘West Side Story’, accompanied by the violinist Joshua Bell. Congratulations are also

in order, as he received two nominations for his recording on Naxos of music by William Schuman.

In Concert

1   May   Piano recital by Jonathan Oshry at St. James’s, Piccadilly.     

20 May-28 June   Lufthansa Festival of Baroque music New Worlds (www.lufthansafestival.org.uk)                                 

      20 May   South American Baroque.   Ex Cathedra  conducted by Jeffrey Skidmore.     St John’s, Smith Square

      20 June   Folias and Romanescas.      Jordi Savall, Xavier Diaz & Michael Behringer.  St. John’s, Smith Square  

(Box office: 020 7222 1061   On-line: www.sjss.org.uk)  

25 May   Gala Concert by ILAMS artists in Sevenoaks, Kent.  Details to be announced.

Making Music with Coro Cervantes

Many of you will know Carlos Fernández Aransay, ILAMS’ energetic Assistant Secretary. He is also a distinguished professional musician, with many strings to his bow as conductor, composer, singer, translator and the director of the chamber choir, Coro Cervantes. Their first CD is due for release later this spring. Carlos agreed to talk with Ray Picot about this project and the work he has been doing with his choir.

In 1995 Carlos founded Coro Cervantes, turning an amateur local choir into an internationally known professional chamber choir under the auspices of the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Institute of Culture in London. They mainly sing a cappella Hispanic music from AD 900 to the present day, from Europe and Latin America. The choir also work with instrumentalists, and have performed around the world to critical acclaim.

I was interested in Carlos’ reasons for deciding on 16 members for Coro Cervantes. He explained, ‘The choice was influenced by the type of repertoire to be sung, sonority and practical reasons. The repertoire is usually set for a SATB choir, but at times it goes up to double or triple choir. The sound of 3 or 4 voices maximum per part is ideal for much of the Renaissance repertoire. Lines are sometimes too long for 1 or 2 voices to sustain, and 4 enable us to stagger breaths without breaking those beautiful long melodic arches’. The choir also sing in many languages, which include Castilian (modern Spanish), Catalan, Basque, Galician, Portuguese, English, French, Italian, German, Flemish, Latin, Quechua (Inca), and Nahuatl (Aztec).

During his studies Carlos did not specialise in any particular music, period or style and to this extent is largely self-taught in his chosen repertoire. He explained, ‘As a singer I prefer a good balance between supported sound and vibrato. I am not too worried about the latter as long as I know that the vibrato is the correct one and homogeneous throughout the choir. I think my approach to singing itself is more Italianate than British. I would like to think that we project our sound, pay attention to the colour and inner rhythm of words and to the meaning of the piece’. Carlos admits to being influenced by the Early Music movement, and has worked with Harry Christophers, whose dramatic approach he found inspiring. He added, ‘When I now hear recordings of some old Spanish choirs, I am horrified by the liberties and the lack of edge to the sound’.

Carlos regularly programmes historic aspects into his concerts. He explained, ‘I find historic re-creations, such as the ones recorded by Paul McCreesh, really fascinating. I like to present programmes which are very coherent and always based around a theme, mostly historical. We have tried to do this, at least in part, with our programmes. One of them, for example, was dedicated to the wedding of Philip II and Mary Tudor. This took place in Winchester, and precisely in the Great Hall of the Castle, where they met. For the funeral of Katherine of Aragon there was a brilliant ceremony at Peterborough Cathedral, where she is buried, the Coro Cervantes alternating with the Cathedral choir, marching in the streets and into the church. For the Anniversary of the deaths of Charles V and Philip II we performed the British premiere of the Mass Philippus Hispaniae by Bartolomé de Escobedo at St. John's, Smith Square’

Whilst Carlos has a passion for performing  music he clearly understands the need for careful research. ‘A lot of my time is spent either at libraries (the Spanish National Library and the Royal Archive in Madrid are favourites, together with the British Library in London), or even on the Internet. I have also established links with musicians in the Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina and Spain. Together we have unearthed some great repertoire and some oddities, like a little motet attributed to the Emperor Charles V’. All this hard work has lead Carlos to make some interesting rediscoveries, which have been programmed into concerts. ‘In the last 2 years we have also spent a lot of time performing Spanish Romantic sacred music, which is completely unknown in this country. For the time being, we are not performing much music from the 18th century, as it usually requires orchestral accompaniment. However, I have unearthed from several libraries and collections many wonderful pieces by some of the most important Spanish composers of their time. From the transition of Classicism to Romanticism, i.e. Arriaga, Sor and Ledesma, to the full blown Romanticism of Barbieri, Monasterio, Bretón and Vives. Then there is the more austere style of Eslava, Pedrell and Goicoechea, and the so-called National School (badly used term in my opinion) represented by Granados, Albéniz and Falla’.

This wide choice of music must have presented Carlos with some difficulty in deciding on a focus for the choir’s CD, “A Hispanic Collection”. He explained, ‘It is devoted to sacred choral music. I have selected well known Spanish composers of historical importance, although a few of the pieces have been previously recorded. These include a motet by the guitarist, Fernando Sor, the first recording of Albéniz' only a cappella work, and two pieces by Granados, one of which is set in Catalan’. Carlos added ‘It took a lot of work to investigate, transcribe, edit and prepare such repertoire. For this, I also counted on the guidance of the Head of Musicology at the Royal Conservatoire in Madrid’. The music was recorded in the chapel of Exeter College, Oxford, which he describes as having ‘A most beautiful acoustic that is ideal for this repertoire’.

Whilst we wait for “O Crux” to be released more can be found out more about Carlos, the choir and their concerts on their website (www.corocervantes.co.uk). We also hope to include the entire interview on our website in the future.                                                                                                                    

CD Highlights in Retrospect

There are too many CD releases to keep up to date with for review in each issue, so Ray Picot will cover some of these retrospectively over the next few issues.  For details of the recordings please cross-refer with the two New Release lists issued to date, and note that (M) relates to mid-price and (B) bargain price.

Orchestral

Carl St. Clair’s landmark recordings of Villa-Lobos’ symphonies has now reached the third release, with numbers 6 and 8 joining 1, 4, 11 and 12. The composer’s invention rarely flags in these more mature works, and despite some uneven thematic treatment, the results are fascinating. The performances on this latest disc are excellent and the conductor achieves the right balance of tempi. Not to be missed! I would apply this epithet to Villa-Lobos’ last completed work, the Concerto Grosso. Scored idiomatically for wind ensemble, this is an inventive and engaging work, with characteristic Bachian touches. The couplings are all interesting and very well played. Another late work, Floresta do Amazonas, for soprano, male chorus and orchestra, is now reissued at mid-price by Delos. This is not the abridged version the composer recorded (EMI 5 565880 2), but Alfred Heller’s scholarly reconstruction of the entire 75 minute technicolour score, conducted by him and featuring the delightful Renée Fleming. It was difficult to buy before, so do not miss it now. An outstanding collection of Latin American classics at bargain price appears on the RPO’s own label, and features more Villa-Lobos together with works by Ginastera, Gomes and Moncayo. The music is conducted with real distinction by Enrique Diemecke, who is an outstanding exponent of this repertoire.

Alexander Panizza entertained us last year at a St. James’s recital. I can recommend his privately issued recording of an incendiary live performance he gave of Ginastera’s first Piano Concerto. He plays with great virtuosity and precision and performs the final movement at a tempo very close to the composer’s own metronome markings. Whilst the youthful ensemble work is uneven in places, this is not unduly distracting.

Crossing to Spain we explore, through the imaginative direction of José Serebrier some concertante works by Leonardo Balada, who has achieved a natural blend of folk influences and modern compositional techniques. The irrepressible third Piano Concerto juxtaposes Spanish and North African styles without sounding derivative, contrasted by the gentler evocations of Music for Flute. The fourth of his un-numbered guitar concertos is an inventive piece with an overtly Spanish character that repays repeated listening. The soloists and orchestra are excellent. This recording is also one of Amazon’s top 10 discs for 2001. I also recommend a previous Naxos disc (8 554708), including Balada’s memorable first Violin Concerto and a trio of imaginative orchestral works, featuring different artists. From Catalan inspiration to Andalucia, with three recently commissioned homages to Falla. Manuel Castillo writes in a more traditional vein, for his engaging Sinfonietta. Notwithstanding the echoes of Roussel, the music has much character and a strong rhythmic drive. Both Rafael Diaz and Francisco Guerrero use more challenging idioms, but the sonic and musical results are quite fascinating. All the works are very well performed and excellently recorded.

Piano

Starting with a clutch of recent Granados releases, Perian have reissued a fascinating compilation of the composer’s own piano-rolls, which offer us a tantalizing glimpse of his own interpretations. Mireille Faye-Mora may not be well known here, but she has great empathy with this music. She presents a delightful collection of the more popular works, all played in a gently idiomatic manner. Martin Jones (Nimbus) and Douglas Riva (Naxos), have both undertaken interesting surveys of Granados’ solo piano music. I found both pianists had a deep understanding of this music, which showed in their committed performances. Martin Jones plays all the published works in his 6 CD set, but he is let down by a meagre booklet and the limited availability of Nimbus discs. Douglas Riva’s enterprising series has reached Volume 5. Each disc in the series features some unpublished pieces, and include the pianist’s own scholarly booklet notes, which I found invaluable. Now to the incomparable Alicia de Larrocha with two self-recommending reissues. RCA’s bargain double features digital recordings of Goyescas and Danzas Españolas. On their Legends series, Decca offer a generous collection of attractive Spanish encores, and the definitive reading of Xavier Montsalvatge’s subtly-flavoured Concierto Breve. All the pieces on these discs are played with Miss de Larrocha’s characteristic expressive depth and sonority.

In Alma Argentina Daniel Levy offers us a ‘multicoloured bouquet of wild flowers’ from his homeland, which includes music by Guastavino and Piazzolla. The prevailing mood is one of a particularly affecting nostalgia, which he sensitively conveys. His deft playing of dances by Ginastera is not so far removed from Michiko Tsuda’s approach, who presents on a single disc all of the composer’s original works for piano. She plays this more sophisticated music with great feeling, so if you are looking for a lower key approach then you should enjoy her interpretations. Quite different again are the insightful recordings Barbara Nissman made for Newport (in the USA) of Ginastera’s complete works for solo piano with chamber ensemble, now reissued by Pierian on twin discs. Although this set partially duplicates Alberto Portugheis’ outstanding interpretations (ASV CD DCA 865/880/902), Miss Nissman’s performances also succeed in illuminating and penetrating the composer’s complex musical canvasses. She is the dedicatee of the third Sonata.

Guitar

Those who enjoy Piazzolla should find much to admire in Eduardo Isaac’s colourful transcription for solo guitar of highlights from María de Buenos Aires. He vividly conjures up the opera’s atmosphere and his playing is outstanding. The Rio de la Plata provides the inspiration for two quite different sounding discs. In Sur many of you will recognize Adriana Balboa’s understated and expressive style from when she played for us at St. James’s. This suits the introspective and reflective pieces that predominate, but she also responds deftly to the more vigorous tango-inspired works. Jaurés Lamarque-Pons’ Sonatina is a real find on this beautiful disc. By contrast Victor Villadangos’ choice of music (for Naxos), displays local colour most vividly. His confident and refined approach is very well suited to the choice of repertoire. I particularly enjoyed his interpretations of the seldom recorded suites by Héctor Ayala and Máximo Diego Pujol.

The complete solo guitar music of Barrios and Leo Brouwer is also being recorded by Naxos using different artists for each disc. Comparisons with John Williams are unavoidable in this repertoire, but the results so far are very promising. Starting the series on Barrios, Antigoni Goni is most expressive and she clearly enjoys the music. Her flowing style enhances the melodic charm of the pieces, for example in the delightful Suite Andina. The pieces chosen for Volume 2 devoted to Brouwer, cover all his widely contrasting styles, from Cuban dances to the more experimental. Elena Papandreou responds well to the challenges and is always interesting. Lastly Tonio Kreusch on Arte Nova, performs outstanding versions of Ginastera’s Sonata and Villa-Lobos’ Etudes. These are formidable renditions, with a depth of sound you rarely hear on guitar recordings. He has an assured technique and at budget price, this disc is unmissable.                                                        

                                                                                                                                                  Ray Picot, Editor