de Falla Station

[staxomega]

I'm sure you'll enjoy that work. It has a poetic and rather magical atmosphere.  I like this recording:

Finished listening to El sombrero de tres picos from Juanjo Mena, I found it a bit too slack. I might have Ansermet too ingrained in me.

[Mirror Image]

Finished listening to El sombrero de tres picos from Juanjo Mena, I found it a bit too slack. I might have Ansermet too ingrained in me.

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos on EMI was the performance I "cut my teeth" with so to speak. I'd imagine the Mena is too slack since he's not too terribly convincing in several of the performances I've heard from him.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos on EMI was the performance I "cut my teeth" with so to speak.

+1. Picturesque.
The Markevitch recording sounds great, but it is not complete.

[Mirror Image]

+1. Picturesque.
The Markevitch recording sounds great, but it is not complete.

Yeah, the Markevitch recording is fantastic. It's not complete? Are you sure?

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I am traveling in mountains and jungle now, but the Philips album on my iPod has only 2 tracks of 3 picos. The performance is phenomenal though. Were it complete, it would have been formidable.

Let me know what you got. 

[Mirror Image]

I am traveling in mountains and jungle now, but the Philips album on my iPod has only 2 tracks of 3 picos. The performance is phenomenal though. Were it complete, it would have been formidable.

Let me know what you got. 

You're absolutely right and I don't know why I was thinking about El amor brujo. Sorry for the confusion.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

You're absolutely right and I don't know why I was thinking about El amor brujo. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you for your clarification. I wish he had done the entire Sombrero. Anyway, his recording of Amor Brujo and Sombrero are extraordinary!

[Mirror Image]

Thank you for your clarification. I wish he had done the entire Sombrero. Anyway, his recording of Amor Brujo and Sombrero are extraordinary!

Yes, indeed. Happy jungle-trekking.

[Brahmsian]

Just beginning (FINALLY!) my journey through the Falla Warner box set.

Oh my.....I think I have died and gone to heaven....what I have listened to is magnificent, which is the piano music and some of the transcriptions of the major works for guitar.  I wish it was all transcribed for the guitar!    Referencing Disc 1 and 8 from the set.  Disc 9 is also a transcriptions disc.

Edit:  The transcription for organ for El amor brujo (Danza ritual del fuego)......was not as successful!  I can do without that one. 

[Brahmsian]

Has anyone else noticed a striking similarity (at least, to these ears)?

In Falla's Siete canciones populares espanolas, in the IV. Jota movement....to the Adagio in Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio, Op. 11?  Falla seems to quote a theme from there.

[Brahmsian]

I'm very fond of El corregidor y la molinera, first version of El sombrero de tres picos. Originally written as a pantomime, scored for 17 instruments. Somewhat longer and more rambling and I'm actually not sure is it preferable to Sombrero in any way, but I find it more intimate, atmospheric and easy going than tighter wound and brilliant sounding ballet version, and I play it much more often. Would really love to see it staged as pantomime or perhaps a puppet play. 

I know I am quoting the late Drasko   

I am really enjoying the original, El Corregidor y la Molinera.  I cannot stop humming the Allegro ma non troppo to Act II.

Well, now I can see that this tune I keep humming is also in El Sombrero de Tres Picos, the Danza de los Vecinos

[Brahmsian]

Well, I finished this 11 disc set in pretty fast time, 3 days!     Just wonderful music, and for the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard.

I highly recommend this set (if like me), you were/are new to Falla and would like to explore his music.





@ritter

[ritter]

Well, I finished this 11 disc set in pretty fast time, 3 days!    Just wonderful music, and for the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard.

I highly recommend this set (if like me), you were/are new to Falla and would like to explore his music.





@ritter

Glad you enjoyed the set, which really is a very comprehensive collection of Falla's music. Any highlights? And I'd love to know what you thought of Atlántida (a work I adore —as I have mentioned in this very thread—, but has never really become popular).

I'll join you with some Falla tonight  :



Rafael Orozco (born in Córdoba — the third movement of Nights... is "In the Gardens of the Sierra de Córdoba") was very attuned to Falla's music, and his brilliant sound combines beautifully with the nocturnal, impressionistic orchestral textures of Noches en los jardines de España. A superb recording.

[Brahmsian]

Glad you enjoyed the set, which really is a very comprehensive collection of Falla's music. Any highlights? And I'd love to know what you thought of Atlántida (a work I adore —as I have mentioned in this very thread—, but has never really become popular).

I'll join you with some Falla tonight  :



Rafael Orozco (born in Córdoba — the third movement of Nights... is "In the Gardens of the Sierra de Córdoba") was very attuned to Falla's music, and his brilliant sound combines beautifully with the nocturnal, impressionistic orchestral textures of Noches en los jardines de España. A superb recording.

The entire set made a pretty remarkable impression.....however....with pretty much the lone exception which was Atlántida    It may grow on me though with time.  It didn't hold my attention and grasp like some of his other works, unfortunately.

Certainly a lot of highlights:  Siete canciones populaires espanolas, Harpsichord Concerto, Tombeau de Debussy, Tombeau de Dukas. 

Certainly a lot of the music from La vida breve, El sombrero de tres picos, El retablo de Maese Pedro and El amor brujo.

Number one highlight for me though were the breathtaking transcriptions for guitar of several of the works, from disc 8, which is why I am now perusing the Guitar Recordings thread for further explorations. 

Quite frankly, it pretty much all made a tremendously wonderful impression on me, and the only piece I felt lukewarm about was your very beloved Atlántida. 

The historical recordings also, were a bit of a mixed bag.  Some are so old and of poor sound quality, that it really is for "historical" interest, but some are also pretty darn good (El retablo...as an example is quite good).

9/10 grade on this set, overall.  I can highly and enthusiastically recommend it to anyone interested.

Lots of hummable tunes, and I cannot stop humming the tune of Danza de los vecinos!

[Brahmsian]

I also had this, got it for $2 at a local used CD shop, and I think it is a lovely performance. 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Enjoying these albums this week. I prefer this Larrocha recording to her later de Falla album from Decca.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Larrocha.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Back in Madrid, I can elaborate a bit further. 

I purchased this set when it was released almost 30 years ago, and it contains what I consider many jewels of the Falla discography.

Eduardo Toldrà was a gifted composer in his own right, and a highly respected conductor (mainly in Barcelona). His recordings of The Three-cornered Hat (with the lovely Consuelo Rubio in the brief solo part) and of Master Peter's Puppet Show rank among the best ever made (of the latter work, Pedro de Freitas Branco's recording on Hispavox / EMI is my favourite, but the Toldrá is a close second).

Then you have Ernesto Halffter, a man who dedicated his life to completing Falla's Atlántida, and who was Don Manuel's only pupil, doing Nights in the Gardens of Spain (with the great Aldo Ciccolini), La Vida Breve (the first recording ever, with a very young Victoria de los Ángeles), and the neglected Suite "Homenajes". Truth be said, E. Halffter wasn't the most energetic of conductors (the Pedrelliana in Homenajes is at times a bit languorous), but the performances breathe authenticity and are generally very satisfying.

Leopoldo Querol doing the solo piano pieces is also top notch, and Pierrette Alarie in the Ravelian Psyché is delightful.

A superb anthology of historic Falla recordings! Enjoy!

P.S.: Señora Sabater will be arriving soon. ¡Paciencia! 

@ritter I like the set! Any other good recordings of La Vida Breve, in mono or stereo?
I only have Victoria Los Angels with Halfter.

[ritter]

@ritter I like the set! Any other good recordings of La Vida Breve, in mono or stereo?
I only have Victoria Los Angeles with Halfter.

La vida breve is not my favourite Falla work (even if I used to listen to it a lot when I was much younger, and almost knew it by heart). The only recordings in my collection are the one conducted by Halffter, and Victoria de los Ángeles' stereo remake under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos on EMI (now in  the Warner Falla "The Spanish Soul" set). I got to know the work with Frühbeck's recording, and for many years it was the only one readily available.

Later, Teresa Berganza recorded it for DG under García Navarro; I had that on cassettes, but have little recollection of it (Berganza was an extraordinary singer, for sure, but I'm not sure her mezzo voice was ideally suited to the rôle of Salud, originally written for a soprano —it has been recorded by other mezzos, in any case).

Later recordings have appeared, conducted by Frühbeck (again), Josep Pons (twice), Eduardo Mata, Jesús López-Cobos, and Maximiniano Valdés, but they all seem to be OOP, and I do not know them. Sorry!

The most recent recording seems to be that of Juanjo Mena on Chandos, with the BBC Philharmonic. They made the good decision to use a Spanish chorus (that of RTVE), because listening to the choruses with an English accent is not a very enticing prospect. 

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

La vida breve is not my favourite Falla work (even if I used to listen to it a lot when I was much younger, and almost knew it by heart). The only recordings in my collection are the one conducted by Halffter, and Victoria de los Ángeles' stereo remake under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos on EMI (now in  the Warner Falla "The Spanish Soul" set). I got to know the work with Frühbeck's recording, and for many years it was the only one readily available.

Later, Teresa Berganza recorded it for DG under García Navarro; I had that on cassettes, but have little recollection of it (Berganza was an extraordinary singer, for sure, but I'm not sure her mezzo voice was ideally suited to the rôle of Salud, originally written for a soprano —it has been recorded by other mezzos, in any case).

Later recordings have appeared, conducted by Frühbeck (again), Josep Pons (twice), Eduardo Mata, Jesús López-Cobos, and Maximiniano Valdés, but they all seem to be OOP, and I do not know them. Sorry!

The most recent recording seems to be that of Juanjo Mena on Chandos, with the BBC Philharmonic. They made the good decision to use a Spanish chorus (that of RTVE), because listening to the choruses with an English accent is not a very enticing prospect. 

Ok I'll check the Mata and the Valdes as I'm familiar with the Cobos and Mena. Thank you for the info!