Guridi’s
“comedia lírica” El Caserío
completed in 1926, actually a zarzuela,
is the first of his several stage
works composed on a libretto in
Castilian. His first operatic works
Mirentxu (1915) and
Amaya
(1920) actually used librettos in
Basque, which suited their nationalistic
subjects but also limited performances,
even in Spain.
The
story is set in an imaginary village
in the Basque province of Biscay,
in the early 20th century.
Sasibill is the homestead (“caserío”)
of the local mayor Santi and of
his niece and nephew Ana Mari and
José Miguel. With them, lives a
labourer Chomín, while Manú and
Eustasia live in the cider-house
with their daughter Inosensia for
whom Eustasia tries to find a good
match. Santi hopes that José Miguel,
who loves the good things of life,
will marry Ana Maria, with whose
mother Santi was secretly in love
years ago. Santi and some of his
old friends intrigue to have José
Miguel realise that he is in fact
in love with Ana Mari. As may be
expected, all is well that ends
well, as befits a zarzuela.
Each
of the three acts consists of a
number of arias, duos and ensembles;
and ends with a developed finale
in which everyone joins. There is
also a good deal of spoken dialogue,
not recorded here; but a fully detailed
synopsis usefully makes up for the
absence of the spoken sections and
of the sung texts. What matters,
as far as I am concerned, is the
music which is very fine, colourful,
richly melodic and eminently singable.
This release is already the fourth
disc of Guridi’s music released
by Naxos. Moreover, a recording
of Guridi’s national drama Amaya
is still available on Marco Polo
8.225084-5 although I have not yet
heard it. If you have already heard
any of these records, you will know
what to expect. The regional setting
is appropriately evoked either by
Basque folk songs or by folk-like
tunes. This element is to be heard
clearly in several sections of the
score, such as Con el trébole
y el toronjil (act I
– track 5), Pello Josephe
(act II – track 9) and Canción
de los Versolaris (act II –
track 14). There are also some very
fine arias and duos, of which Santi’s
Romance (act I track 6) is particularly
fine; the music has some echoes
of Puccini. As befits a zarzuela,
the music is generally simple and
straightforward, but never simplistic.
It encompasses a wide range of moods
according to the events occurring
on stage, and thus alternates romance,
tenderness, humour and overt jollity.
It also has some fine orchestral
interludes, such as the beautifully
atmospheric prelude to act I and
the prelude to act 2, as well as
some excellent choruses.
All
concerned obviously enjoy the music,
and everyone sings and plays with
conviction. Soloists are extremely
good and some minor parts are very
nicely done indeed. The part played
by the Bilbao Choral Society is
worthy of a special accolade.
In
short, this is an attractive piece
of music that clearly deserves to
be heard. Those who already know
Guridi’s music will need no further
recommendation. I am sure that others
who love, say, Rodrigo’s or Turina’s
music will find much to enjoy here.
I certainly did.
Hubert Culot
for
details
Vicente Sardinero (baritone) - Santi; Ana Rodrigo
(soprano) - Ana Mari; Emilio Sánchez (tenor)
- José Miguel; Felipe Nieto (tenor) - Chomín;
Fernando Latorre (tenor) - Don Leoncio, Don
Jesusito, Manú; Maria José Suárez (soprano)
- Eustasia, Inosensia.
