Klassic Cat
A Trip to Granada Anna Tonna (mezzo-soprano), Mac McClure (piano) Edicions Albert Moraleda [Streaming on Spotify, iTunes]
Lejárraga later hoped that the composer would set her poetic cycle Pascua florida, partly inspired by their visit to the Alhambra, which Falla was visiting for the first time. In the event the cycle had to wait for Miquel Ortega (b.1963) whose harmonically subtle settings are written in a style not far removed from Falla’s own. Tonna and McClure find a range of moods and colours in the cycle, which easily justifies its place at the heart of the recital, even if some other songs here are more immediately memorable. Falla himself is represented by two familiar excerpts from the Siete canciones populares, and by two rarities: these miniature settings of Lejárraga are of supreme quality, and it is amazing that they have been so little recorded. In ‘Oración de las madres’ especially, Tonna conveys a depth and complexity of feeling belying its brevity.
More surprising is Joaquín Turina’s experimental 1927 song for mezzo-soprano, long enough to count as a dramatic scena. ‘Corazón de Mujer’ begins arrestingly with a popular, dance-hall chotis, before embarking on setting Cristina de Arteaga’s confessional poem, which explores sensual passion from a very personal point of view. The song’s mercurial progress brings out Tonna’s compelling qualities as a singing-actress; and she is well matched by McClure, whose warm readings of two of Albéniz’s most familiar piano classics top and tail this handsomely planned, and no less handsomely executed, recital. © Christopher Webber and zarzuela.net, 2023
25/I/2023 |