classicsonline.com
(Naxos)

|
La verbena
de la Paloma Tomás Bretón
1952 Argenta recording |
La verbena de la
Paloma (Ricardo de la Vega / Tomás Bretón). Cast:
Susana - Ana María Iriarte; Julián - Manuel Ausensi;
Seña Rita - Toñy Rosado; Casta - Marianela de Montijo; Don
Hilarión - Carlos Oller; La Cantaora - Inés Rivadeneira;
Tía Antonia - Patrocinio Rico; Portera - Soledad Jiménez; Don
Sebastián - Juan Encabo; El tabernero - Gerardo Monreal; Portero -
Sebastian Vazquez. Gran Orquesta Sinfónica, Coro Cantores de Madrid, c.
Ataúlfo Argenta (1952)
Classicsonline.com 9.80792
[TT=c.46:00] [Download only - n/a USA,
Canada]
Pressure of time has been responsible for my tardy acknowledgement
of Naxos’s valuable series of mp3
downloads taken from out of copyright zarzuela LP recordings, many of
them classics. A little searching will turn up getting on for thirty
recordings. Not all are tagged “zarzuela”, so it is worth searching
the classicsonline.com search engine for your favourite
composers. David Lennick’s transfers are smoothly
professional, and the subtly managed hiss removal has not resulted in too much
loss of upper partials. Where they duplicate Novoson issues,
the Naxos sound is infinitely preferable and at £1.99 per album these
downloads are great value for anyone looking to supplement their CD zarzuela
library.
Amongst the most interesting is
an Ataúlfo Argenta rarity, never issued on CD in any
form and hard to find on LP. His 1952 studio recording of La verbena de la
Paloma was one of the very earliest Alhambra issues, but
when the conductor’s remake appeared in 1958 the company bizarrely issued
it under the same number (MCC 30000), whilst withdrawing the first version from
circulation. The 1952 record is thus something of a rarity. It’s
frustrating that the Naxos cover thoroughly confuses the issue by giving top
billing to Miguel Ligero, whose inimitably outrageous Don
Hilarión does indeed grace the 1958 remake, but not the 1952
recording we have here! In fact the veteran Carlos Oller sings
the role rather better, conveying a subtle reality not aimed at by his iconic
comedic rival, and arguably more attuned to home listening.
That observation defines the difference between the two
performances, 1952’s more leisurely musical values countered by the
remake’s superior theatrical urgency. Ausensi’s
Julián was certainly somewhat less strenuous in 1952, with an extra
degree of lyric ardour well matched by Rosado’s warmly
sympathetic Seña Rita. There’s a bright innocence to his
relationship with Iriarte’s Susana which neither singer
quite matched in the remake, where their sparring is more cynically jaded. The
smaller parts are well taken, with Rivadeneira
(promoted to Rita in 1958) a richly raw Cantaora and
Monreal a strikingly sardonic Tabernero.
Lennick has done his best with the limited sonic possibilities of
the 1952 recording, pretty well balanced between singers and orchestra, but
eclipsed by the superior brightness, dynamic range and theatrical ambience of
the remake (itself given an unusually good transfer by BMG as part of their
1996 Argenta Edition, on RCA Classics 74321 35967 2). On
balance, though, I lean marginally towards the musical solidity of
Argenta’s 1952 take on Bretón’s masterpiece, at least for
repeated listening. Certainly nobody need hesitate to add such a cheap but
valuable download to their library, well stocked with Verbenas though
it may already be.
© Christopher Webber 2011
Classicsonline.com zarzuela
downloads
ALONSO: La calesera
(Lorengar, Berganza, Ausensi ...) 9.80824
ALONSO: La rumbosa (Lorengar,
Ausensi ... Echeverria) 9.80789
ARRIETA: Marina (Sagi-Vela, Caballer,
Ferrando) 9.80794-95
BRETON: La verbena de la Paloma (Oller, Encabo ...)
9.80792
CABALLERO: Gigantes y cabezudos (Berchman, Espinosa ...)
9.80815
CHAPI: El punao de rosas (Iriarte, Lorengar ...)
9.80830
CHAPI: La revoltosa (Iriarte, Ausensi ... Argenta)
9.80832
CHAPI: El rey que rabío (Lorengar, Rosado ...)
9.80827
CHAPI: La tempestad (Lorengar, Rosado, Ausensi ... )
9.80818-19
CHUECA/VALVERDE: La Gran Vía (Rivadeneira ...)
9.80833
GUERRERO: Los gavilanes (Ausensi, Berchman ...)
9.80831
GUERRERO: La montería (Sagi-Vela ... )
9.80867
LECUONA: El cafetal (Sagi-Vela, Perez ...) 9.80834
LUNA:
Los cadetes de la reína (Lorengar, Ausensi ...) 9.80828
LUNA:
Molinos de viento (Berchman, Vela, Ramalle ...) 9.80790
MILLAN: La
dogaresa (Lorengar, Berganza, Ausensi ...) 9.80829
PENELLA: Las musas
latinas (De Cordoba, Aznar ...) 9.80793
ROIG: Cecilia Valdés
(Perez, Naya, Roig) (1950) 9.80791
SERRANO: Alma de Dios (Berchman,
Simon, Ramalle ...) 9.80814
SERRANO: Los claveles (Iriarte, Munguia ...
Argenta) 9.80816
SERRANO: La dolorosa (Iriarte, Ausensi ... Argenta)
9.80817
SOUTULLO/VERT: La del Soto del Parral (Ausensi, Rosado ...
Argenta) 9.80826
SOUTULLO/VERT: El último romántico
(Berganza, Torrano ...) 9.80820
TORROBA: Luisa Fernanda (Naya,
González ... Roig) 9.80884
USANDIZAGA: Las golondrinas (Lorengar,
Iriarte ...) 9.80821-23
VIVES: Maruxa (Lorengar, Ausensi ... Argenta)
9.80786-87
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04 April 2011
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