Of all the evils that threatened the Spanish monarchy around 1600, perhaps the worst was the inclination of it's subjects towards enjoyment and debauchery, which led to the creation and practice of a myriad of festive and lascivious dances. Thus, dance-songs were censured and prohibited, and accompanied by severe punishments (lashes, galleys, exiles...) With lost or non-existent scores, the only way to revive these dances has been by reconstructing their melodies and rhythms from their surviving evidence: the poems and the harmony. An adventure to recreate and perform the words that the moralists pointed out as "obscene", and the provocative gestures of the female dancers, who carried out "awkward and dirty acts with extreme dishonesty, wiggling and innuendos, embracing and kissing using mouth and arms, loins and the whole body as it is done in brothels." There is no other solution but to completely eradicate such pernicious practices that�were�"coming straight out of hell to seriously offend our Lord." Rachel Andueza and La�Galania�present these songs in�all of�their originality and sensuality.

Francesco Cavalli is one of the main baroque opera composers of the XVIIth Century. His music is full of passion, dissonances, beauty, joy, and torment, and the ensemble of La Galanía, leaded by theorbo player Jesús Fernández Baena and soprano Raquel Andueza, has compiled a selection of his most wonderful arias and duets for soprano and alto, creating themselves their own small play, Miracolo d'Amore, a love and betrayal story between the two singers. Raquel Andueza and Xavier Sabata, two of the main exponents of the XXIst Century baroques voices, show all their nuances and range of affection and vocal colors, and the refined instrumental ensemble of La Galanía is the perfect harmonic cushion for the two voices. This release is a true musical miracle of love.

In Paradiso contains sacred and moral music of the 17th century early Italian baroque, for soprano and basso continuo. Here we find some of the greatest Seicento sacred masterworks, such as Ferrari's “Cantata Spirituale”, combined with some lighter and never before edited and/or performed anonymous moral songs warning of the dangers of not being virtuous. The duo of Raquel Andueza and Jesús Fernández (co-founder, La Galanía) is one of the most celebrated and sought after duos in Europe.

This program of Spanish and European music with exclusively Spanish texts compiled from several European sources features several world première recordings. The debut CD of Spanish soprano Raquel Andueza and her group La Galanía, this recording was unanimously granted a “Festclásica 2011” award given by the Spanish Association of Classical Music Festivals. La Galanía, founded 2010, aims to perform 17th and 18th century Baroque music based on carefully researched historical principles.

This compilation of Antonio Cesti'ʹs most beautiful arias and cantatas features nearly exclusively world première recordings. Antonio Cesti (1623-69) was a leading 17th century composer, tenor and organist. His evident Italianiate melodic and harmonic style and charm make clear why the Medici family was so interested in having him as a regular composer. Spanish soprano Raquel Andueza and La Galanía reveal the love, passion, tenderness and fire inherent in these works.

This Anima e Corpo release features the world premiere recording of Pegaso, Tarquinio Merula’s (1595-1665) early Baroque-era Italian masterwork, a considerable, impressive and poignant collection of sacred music: Psalms, Motets, Litanies, for one to five voices, with violins and continuo. Founded in 2009 by soprano Raquel Andueza and theorbo player Jesús Fernández Baena, La Galanía is composed of some of the best contemporary musicians specializing in early music of Spain and Europe. They are seen and heard in the finest theaters, auditoriums and concert halls worldwide.