I’m not aware of many discs with music pairing cello and guitar but it
certainly works as this disc shows. The guitar usually presents the lively
lighter side while the cello injects a more thoughtful and reflective mood.
The two musicians here only met in 2011 yet their music-making seems very
well honed and the rapport between them is very obvious. The pair made all
the arrangements bar two for this disc of music mainly by Spanish composers.
To this core they add some from French (Ravel), Argentinean (Gardel and
Piazzolla), Mexican (Lara) and Brazilian (Gismonti and Assad) hands.
Granados’
Intermezzo from
Goyescas is a piece of
quintessentially Spanish music with the cello’s bittersweet line very
effectively highlighted against the guitar’s more laid-back one. De Falla’s
Seven Spanish Popular songs are also extremely evocative of all we think of
when we think of Spain.
Jota is a perfect case in point with the
passion of this typical Spanish dance brilliantly captured by these two
instruments.
Whenever I hear the music of Granados, who was considered along with De
Falla and Albéniz as one of the most important musicians of the first half
of the twentieth century, I feel a pang of real sadness at the terrible loss
to music occasioned by his truly unfortunate death. On a visit to the USA to
play before President Wilson he delayed his departure for Spain to record
some piano-rolls which can be heard today. This delay meant he had missed
his boat to return to Spain directly and was forced to sail on one to
England where he caught the passenger ferry SS Sussex for Dieppe along with
his wife Amparo. During its journey across the channel it was hit by a
torpedo fired from a German U-boat since this was 1916 and the First World
War was still raging. The boat broke in two and amazingly the half with his
cabin on did not sink but was towed back to port with almost all the
passengers apart from Granados and his wife. Granados was in a lifeboat but
somehow his wife had become separated from him. Granados saw her flailing
around in the sea and he dived off the lifeboat to save her; they both
drowned leaving six orphans; he was 49 years old. The
Oriental from
his
12 Spanish Dances is a really poignant piece and seems all the
more so as you reflect on his untimely death and what else might have been
composed had he lived.
The disc’s title piece, De Falla’s
La Vida Breve is a spirited
work as befits the story of an untrustworthy man, Paco, who despite
declaring his love for a gypsy girl goes on to marry the daughter of a well
off family. The gypsy girl Salud gatecrashes the wedding party and after
dressing down the man who left her then collapses and dies at his feet.
It has often been said that the best Spanish music was written by
non-Spaniards which is as much a slur as those who claimed British music was
‘cow-pat music’. One only has to listen to the music of Granados, Albéniz
and De Falla as well as many more to reject this. However, it must be
recognised that several non-Spanish composers wrote some very convincing
‘Spanish’ music that evokes that country very well. Debussy was one example
and Ravel was certainly another. In Ravel's case perhaps being born
in the French Basque region only 11 miles from the border with Spain exerted
the necessary influence in addition to that of his mother who surrounded him
with music from Spain. The composer of
Boléro and
Alborada del
gracioso also wrote the next work on this disc,
Piece in Habanera
style which is as ‘Spanish’ as anything that ever came out of Spain
itself.
Gaspar Cassadó was born in Barcelona and was well known as a fine cellist.
He was a pupil of Casals who unfortunately seriously affected his
pupil's career when he accused Cassadó of being a collaborator, an
accusation that is still questioned. His piece
Requiebros
(flattery) is another of this duo’s arrangements which works really well in
this combination. As if to emphasise the previous statement about
non-Spaniards’ ‘Spanish’ music we next have a piece by Brazilian composer
Egberto Gismonti, himself also a guitarist as well as a pianist. He is just
as well known in the world of jazz for his collaborations with bassist
Charlie Haden. This piece entitled
Agua e Vinho (water and wine)
reflects on two of life’s important things and comes from his 1972 album of
the same name.
It would hardly be a disc of music by Spanish or Spanish-influenced
composers if it did not include something by the Argentinean composer Astor
Piazzolla. Like Gismondi he was a pupil of Nadia Boulanger and was master of
the bandonéon. The first of three of his works on this disc is the famous
Libertango that in under three minutes perfectly captures the
essence of tango. In between Piazzolla’s works here is a lovely piece by
another Brazilian, Sérgio Assad. This he arranged himself from a version
usually performed by himself and his brother on guitars and recorded along
with Yo-Yo Ma on cello. Inspired by the tenderness of a small child
Menino is a delight. We now return to Piazzolla with two of his
compositions
Nightclub 1960, a movement from his work
Histoire
du Tango for flute and guitar. It appears here in another arrangement
by the two musicians on this disc as does the last of Piazzolla’s pieces,
Oblivion, a beautifully poetic work whose inspiration remains a
mystery.
Considered the ‘father of tango’ Carlos Gardel the Franco-Argentinean
composer wrote the penultimate work on the disc
Volver (Returning).
This is considered the most representative work in the entire history of
tango. It is an extremely heart-rending piece of aching nostalgia and with
words that match the music in every way "Living with my soul bound to a
sweet memory that makes me weep yet again". The booklet notes remind us
of the vagaries of fate telling the story of Piazzolla’s father’s refusal to
allow his young son to go off on tour with his older friend and mentor
Gardel who died, along with his entire band, in an airplane crash in 1935
aged 45.
What must surely be
the most quintessentially Spanish of all
pieces
Granada was in fact written by a Mexican, the multi-named
Ángel Agustín María Carlos Fausto Mariano Alfonso del Sagrado Corazón de
Jesús Lara y Aguirre del Pino — Agustín Lara for short. Born in 1897 Lara
was a composer of over 700 songs — more even than Schubert — and during his
flamboyant life had six wives. Nothing more can be said about this work
which is the tune everyone undoubtedly thinks of when Spain and music are
mentioned in the same breath. Nadčge Rochat and Rafael Aguirre’s arrangement
brings out the real kernel of the tune in the most brilliant fashion.
This disc was immensely enjoyable giving an unusual take on many pieces we
all know well in arrangements that underline the best elements of the tunes
in a highly inventive and innovative way. Both musicians are clearly at the
top of their game and further collaborations are eagerly awaited by this
reviewer.
Steve Arloff
Contents
Enrique GRANADOS (1867-1916)
Intermezzo from
Goyescas [4:25]
Manuel DE FALLA (1876-1946)
Seven Spanish Popular songs [14:26]
Enrique GRANADOS
Oriental from 12 Spanish dances [5:37]
Manuel DE FALLA
La Vida Breve [3:29]
Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Piece in Habanera style [3:08]
Gaspar CASSADÓ (1897-1966)
Requiebros [5:09]
Egberto GISMONTI (b.1947)
Agua e Vinho [3:55]
Astor PIAZZOLLA (1921-1992)
Libertango [2:41]
Sérgio ASSAD (b.1952)
Menino [3:30]
Astor PIAZZOLLA
Nightclub 1960 [5:36]
Oblivion [3:44]
Carlos GARDEL (1890-1935)
Volver [2:42]
Agustín LARA (1897-1970)
Granada [3:29]
