de Falla Station

[vandermolen]

Looks like an interesting new series featuring the insufficiently appreciated spaniard.
[asin]B006O51D0Q[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

Looks like an interesting new series featuring the insufficiently appreciated spaniard.
[asin]B006O51D0Q[/asin]

It should be good, Jeffrey. I have a lot of de Falla in my collection, but, hey, let's add another one!

Upcoming purchases:

Debussy: Complete Orchestral Works - Jun Markl, 9 CDs, Naxos
Mercury Living Presence Box Set - 51 CDs
Khachaturian: Spartacus, Jurowski, Berlin Radio Symphony, 2 CDs, Capriccio

[DieNacht]

Have been listening to this set,
the complete piano works played by Meshulam on Brilliant Classics. The set does contain some rarities, but the playing lacks vigeur.

Then heard this pianist on you-t: Mauricio Nader - and liked him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZC2WjU-Fw (Danza del Fuego)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spJIxflgNiU (Baetica)

The fellow also plays Wolfgang Rihm and other stuff on you-t.

[Mirror Image]

Looks like an interesting new series featuring the insufficiently appreciated spaniard.
[asin]B006O51D0Q[/asin]

So far, Jeffrey, this is an excellent recording. I highly recommend it. There's a wonderful energy to the performances.

[Karl Henning]

http://www.youtube.com/v/hB5qCuVIQRE

[ritter]

I feel compelled to bring my proselytizing fror Atlántida to this thread (which has been inactive for more than three years  ):

Every once in a while I revisit this:


Yes, the work might be flawed, dramatically awkward, perhaps even musically inconsistent...but is is endlessly fascinating and breathtakingly beautiful. A must for anyone interested in the music of Manuel de Falla. Sadly, recordings of it are not easy to find these days (except for a bootleg of the staged première at La Scala of an "intermediate" version of Ernesto Hallfter's completion, in poor sound and in Italian translation).

I fortunately located the other day a cheap copy of the CD transfer of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos's pioneering recording from the 70s, with which I got to get to know the work in my teens and that was only briefly available in the market:



It's on its way to Spain from Germany! 

Some days ago, I reported (with enthusism) that I was listening to Edmon Colomer's recording of the Manuel de Falla / Ernesto Halffter Atlántida (on long OOP Audivis / Valois CDs). Well, now I have received a used copy of the first compete recording conducetd by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos  on EMI  (which only circulated breifly, is also long OOP, and which I hadn't listened to for some 30 years--I had on LPs):



Both the Colomer and the Früihbeck recordings are excellent; perhaps Colomer's forces are more enthusiastic, and his female soloists (Teresa Berganza as Queen Pirene and a young María Bayo as Queen Isabella) have a slight advantage over their counterparts on the EMI (Anna Ricci and Enriqueta Tarrès). As the narrator, Simon Estes on Audivis is good, but slightly vehement and lacking in subtelty, while Vicente Sardinero is rather more idiomatic in the EMI.

What should be noted, though, is that the Frühbeck includes some 20 minutes more of music in Part II (Alcides and Geryon the three-headed). I wouldn't go as far as saying that the Colomer is cut, since the process of completion of this fragementary work was haphazard. Still, the longer Part II is worthwhile, and gives a better picture of the destruction of Atlantis from a dramatic point of view.

It is rather surprising that Frühbeck chose to include more music form Part II (if he actually had a choice at that time), because later on he would perform excerpts pof the work in a sort of suite, omitting Part II altogether. He would invoke logistic problems (given the number of soslists required). Also, Part II is the section that apparently includes the least of original music by Falla, and is almost purely Halffter. To add insult to injury, on at least one occasion, Frühbeck perfomed this suite (sans part II) followd by Orff's Carmina Burana, of all things  .

In any case, Part II it is quite wonderful, and full of all sorts of influneces. For instance, Wagner and Puccini lurk in the background: Geryon is a creature that lies somewhere between Fafner, on one hand, and Ping, Pang and Pong from Turandot on the other, and the Pleiades are a kind of mixture of the Flowermaidesn from Parsifal and a sort of Mediterranean Rhinemaidens).

It is surprising that a new recording of this work hasn't been issued. Perhaps the Spanish National Orchetstra's own label will release the performances under Josep Pons from last year in Madrid (which were highly praised, and which I sadly missed because I was out of town at the time  ).

I read in the first page of this thread that Karl Henning had the chance to see a suite from Atlántida in concert, and found it beautiful  .He adds that it made him long for what could have been. That is perfectly understandable, because not knowing how a composer of Falla's stature would have completed his magnum opus (on which he worked for more than 20 years) is really sad. Still, what "is" (i.e., this work with two authors--Falla and E. Halffter) is, as it stands, by all acounts extraordinary, and one of the greatest monuments of Spanish music ever.

[Mirror Image]

My favorite work of Falla's is Psyché. I've grown kind of tired of the more well-known ballets like El sombrero de tres picos and El amor brujo. I still have a fondness for Noches en los jardines de España. I also like the Harpsichord Concerto.

[ritter]

My favorite work of Falla's is Psyché. I've grown kind of tired of the more well-known ballets like El sombrero de tres picos and El amor brujo. I still have a fondness for Noches en los jardines de España. I also like the Harpsichord Concerto.

You seem to be firmly in the camp of Igor Stravinsky, who wrote something to the effect that Falla's best music is not necessarily the most "Spanish".  Of course, Psyché is very French-sounding (not only because of the text), and it is a sister of works such as Ravel's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé (which both you IIRC and I admire a lot)  or some of the early Stravinsky songs (the Japanese lyrics or the Verlaine settings). Noches is also a very French piece in its conception, I'd say.

In any case, Falla's use of Andalusian folklore in the early ballets is masterful, and the man was a real expert on flamenco (he organized a cante jondo festival along with Federico García Lorca and others in Granada in 1922), and it doesn't have the "picture-postcard" feeling that you can hear in, for instance, Joaquín Turina's music.

Later Falla abandons this "overt" folklorism, and works like the Harpsichord concerto and the wonderful Master Peter's puppet show are much more ascetic, "Castilian". If you do not know that chamber opera, I urge you to listen to it (even if you are not really into opera). It is a bit like the development of George Enescu, from the "in-your-face" folklorism of the first Romanian rhapsody to the much subtler use of folk-inspired material in his late oeuvre.

It's of no consequence to this discussion, but it is striking that soemone like Pierre Boulez, who never concealed his dislike for (virtaully all) neo-classicism, recorded or conducted in public both the Harpsichord concerto and Master Peter, the latter in a triple bill with Stravinsky's Renard and Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire. It's as if Boulez was trying to link the Falla piece to what we usually consider "20th century high modernism".

In short, from what you say, John, Atlántida is something I think you'd enjoy. Pity Falla's output is soooo small...

Cheers,

[Mirror Image]

You seem to be firmly in the camp of Igor Stravinsky, who wrote something to the effect that Falla's best music is not necessarily the most "Spanish".  Of course, Psyché is very French-sounding (not only because of the text), and it is a sister of works such as Ravel's Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé (which both you IIRC and I admire a lot)  or some of the early Stravinsky songs (the Japanese lyrics or the Verlaine settings). Noches is also a very French piece in its conception, I'd say.

In any case, Falla's use of Andalusian folklore in the early ballets is masterful, and the man was a real expert on flamenco (he organized a cante jondo festival along with Federico García Lorca and others in Granada in 1922), and it doesn't have the "picture-postcard" feeling that you can hear in, for instance, Joaquín Turina's music.

Later Falla abandons this "overt" folklorism, and works like the Harpsichord concerto and the wonderful Master Peter's puppet show are much more ascetic, "Castilian". If you do not know that chamber opera, I urge you to listen to it (even if you are not really into opera). It is a bit like the development of George Enescu, from the "in-your-face" folklorism of the first Romanian rhapsody to the much subtler use of folk-inspired material in his late oeuvre.

It's of no consequence to this discussion, but it is striking that soemone like Pierre Boulez, who never concealed his dislike for (virtaully all) neo-classicism, recorded or conducted in public both the Harpsichord concerto and Master Peter, the latter in a triple bill with Stravinsky's Renard and Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire. It's as if Boulez was trying to link the Falla piece to what we usually consider "20th century high modernism".

In short, from what you say, John, Atlántida is something I think you'd enjoy. Pity Falla's output is soooo small...

Cheers,

Atlántida is one work I do not own that I really should checkout at some juncture. Falla really was an outstanding composer, but it's those early ballets that I've just grown tiresome of. It feels good to be in the same company as Stravinsky. El gran teatro del mundo in another work of Falla's that I enjoy. It's some incidental music he had written, but it's no less involving. It seems the best Falla doesn't overstay it's welcome and is pretty much finished before it even starts. It doesn't surprise me that Boulez doesn't like Neoclassicism, but, at the same time, it doesn't really surprise me that he conducted a lot of it as well. He seemed to be a man of many contradictions.

[Spineur]

I had grown tired of " el sombrero de tres picos", mostly because of his use of "local color" which I felt was excessive.  Somebody bought me this box of some of the timeless successes of the Paris ballet.
[asin]B005ZIDZB8[/asin]
In it this ballet is performed with the Picasso sets and costumes recreated for the occasion and a modernized version of Balanchine choregraphy.

This is the magic of living theater: it draws from all the arts not just music.  And here they blend perfectly.

[Mirror Image]

Cross-post from the 'Purchases' thread -

Just bought:

Bought tonight:



I saw Jill Gomez's name on this Cleobury recording of El amor brujo and had to buy it immediately. Also, what's nice is this is the original 1915 version, which I have a recording of already (with Josep Pons on Harmonia Mundi) but I was never crazy about the vocalist that was used.

I seem to recall that Rafael spoke highly of this López Cobos recording on the Claves label, but I may be misremembering.

[ritter]

This past weekend, in Granada, I finally got a chance to visit Manuel de Falla's home, where he lived from 1922 until his departure to self-imposed exile in Argentina in 1939. It's a small carmen (a typical Granada hillside house with an enclosed garden) on the road that winds up to the Alhambra (with great views of the city below and the vega granadina—the valley).

It's very spartan—no Wahnfried, this —and although he never owned the place, after his death it was bought by the Granada City Council and his personal possessions were left intact inside (his intention was to return "when things calmed down in Europe", but alas that was not to be). The place really reflects the impression one has of Falla the man: very ascetic yet dandyish, and very religious. A very special place, I'd say.


The house seen from the small garden (in which chamber music concerts are nowadays held)


The exterior. All windows and doors were painted blue by Falla, to remind him of the sea of his native Cádiz (although it's not too far from the city, the sea cannot be seen from Granada).


Picasso's costume designs for The Three-cornered Hat hang on the walls.


The composer's bedroom, which (as the guide at the museum pointed out) looks like a hospital room. His sister's (Falla shared the house with her—they were both single) looks like an oratory


Falla's dandyish side   

It turns out that Falla is revered in Granada more than in any other city in Spain (that I'm aware of). It happened that the city's yearly book fair was being held on the weekend, and there was much on offer on the composer (some things I know have been out of print for many years, but somehow the local institutions have new copies for sale).  I bought this coffee table book (with a wealth of photographic documentation)...



...and a recent publication about the composer's tribulations during the turmoil in Spain in the 1930s:



As a curiosity, I also got a CD I didn't even know existed: the live recordings made during the first cante jondo (this being the most serious type of flamenco singing) competition organised by, among others, Lorca and Falla in Granada in 1922.

[Mirror Image]

Someone is a Falla fan I see. Just kidding....beautiful photos, Rafael, and sounds like you had a great trip.

[vandermolen]

Yes, what an experience and great photos. I like his hats although I don't think that they would suit me 
I am a Falla admirer as well.

[ritter]

....beautiful photos, Rafael, and sounds like you had a great trip.

Yes, what an experience and great photos. I like his hats although I don't think that they would suit me 
I am a Falla admirer as well.

Thanks, gentlemen! You should visit the house if you're ever in the area, but call in advance, because it appears that the official opening hours are not really respected. We got in by chance: they didn't want to give us admission because some musicians were about to arrive to rehearse for a concert, but luckily we coincided with another party that insisted they had been given an appointment to visit the museum, and in we went 

For clarity's sake, the pictures are not by me (but sourced from the internet). Apart from being a mediocre photographer, I don't like losing time by taking photographs in this  kind of visits (I actually get a bit nervous by people trying to immortalise a moment, rather than savouring the moment itself—we all have our manias ).

[Karl Henning]

This past weekend, in Granada, I finally got a chance to visit Manuel de Falla's home, where he lived from 1922 until his departure to self-imposed exile in Argentina in 1939. It's a small carmen (a typical Granada hillside house with an enclosed garden) on the road that winds up to the Alhambra (with great views of the city below and the vega granadina—the valley).

It's very spartan—no Wahnfried, this —and although he never owned the place, after his death it was bought by the Granada City Council and his personal possessions were left intact inside (his intention was to return "when things calmed down in Europe", but alas that was not to be). The place really reflects the impression one has of Falla the man: very ascetic yet dandyish, and very religious. A very special place, I'd say.


The house seen from the small garden (in which chamber music concerts are nowadays held)


The exterior. All windows and doors were painted blue by Falla, to remind him of the sea of his native Cádiz (although it's not too far from the city, the sea cannot be seen from Granada).

Beautiful.  This composer would not object at all to living in such a house . . . .

[ritter]

Beautiful.  This composer would not object at all to living in such a house . . . .

Well, the house is actually much smaller than it seems, but delightful nonetheless. We were told the rent paid by Falla amounted to 80 pesetas per annum. Not taking into account inflation, and the successive devaluations of the Spanish currency since the 30s up to the introduction of the euro, that amount is roughly equal to 50 cents of a euro (per annum, I insist).   

[Biffo]

Looks like an interesting new series featuring the insufficiently appreciated spaniard.
[asin]B006O51D0Q[/asin]

Any thoughts on this disc?  The only 'Nights' I have is from Alicia de Larrocha with Rafael Fruhbeck and the Orquesta Filarmonica de Londres and it is decades old.

[vandermolen]

Any thoughts on this disc?  The only 'Nights' I have is from Alicia de Larrocha with Rafael Fruhbeck and the Orquesta Filarmonica de Londres and it is decades old.

Well, I really like the CD - lovely recording and performances and a great programme. I'm not a Falla 'expert' but the CD has given me great pleasure.

[Biffo]

Well, I really like the CD - lovely recording and performances and a great programme. I'm not a Falla 'expert' but the CD has given me great pleasure.

Many thanks for your comments. I don't have much de Falla in my collection and it is mainly in elderly recordings, perhaps I should buy the Chandos disc (or more probably lossless download).