La Pleiade, French for the Pleiades (name of a constellation of stars), is a collection of 18th Century French harpsichord music performed by the Mexican harpist Gomez. The selected repertoire favors those composers still active around the second half of the 18th century, when the traditional harpsichord was losing ground to the brand new fortepiano as the keyboard instrument of choice.

Fernando Dominguez was an important force in the birth of contemporary Mexican literature for bass clarinet and bass clarinet with electronics. This happened after Dominguez returned from studying with Harry Spaarnay in Holland, when he met with Georgina Derbez, a composer, in 1999. Over the last sixteen years Dominguez has been collaborating with different composers in this genre, and promoting the works. This album is the result of those long years of work.

La Guitarra del Amor (The Guitar of Love)

Bolcom, W.: Recuerdos / Adams, J.: Hallelujah Junction / Vel

Following their highly successful first album, Engelina Reyes and Camelia Goila have again, carefully selected the most representative works for this classic instrumental combination, composed in Mexico in the second half of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their distinctive quality, diversity of languages, styles, and command of form prove that the Mexican chamber music repertoire for flute has achieved its maturity.

-----
REVIEW:

A few of the works included here have been recorded previously, either on LP or CD—‘Diptych I’ by Manuel Enriquez, ‘Huesped de las Nieblas’ by Halffter, and the three little lollipops by Ponce. Otherwise these seem to be first recordings. Virtually all the composers will be unknown to American listeners.

The disc includes works of three women composers — Diana Syrse, whose ‘Beauty and Strength’ recalls early 20th Century French writing and harmonies; Mariana Villanueva, whose ‘Psyche’ begins with atmospheric sounds in the piano, with extended techniques evoking Japanese images, and two pieces by the flutist herself, an unaccompanied solo (‘Sattwa’) and a relatively sparse Dialog for flute and piano.

An excellent collection that should make the Duo many friends in the Americas and even further.

– American Record Guide

ONIX Ensemble writes: “When we decided to prepare a performance of Pierre Boulez's The Hammer with no Master, we knew that we were facing a great challenge: a work of great technical and artistic complexity. What we present in this album is our live version, which we believe constitutes an original and truly Latin American interpretation. It was recorded in the year 2005, and since then it was put away, because we couldn’t find the pieces that could accompany such monumentality, and its thirty-five minutes were not enough to complete a record project by itself. It was not until recently that ONIX decided to release this version, accompanied by also live performances of works by composers Maki Ishii and Elliott Carter, whose interpretive and compositional contribution was similar, both aesthetically and conceptually. Hard Core requires very strong instrumental skills, not only in the technical aspects for each individual player, but in terms of ensemble work. The recording is a challenge for the listener as well: “hard core listening”- necessary to appreciate and enjoy the innumerable contours of a sound reef full of details and complex refinements in timbre, dynamics, rhythms and harmony.”

Mexican violoncello player Gustavo Martin has a busy career as chamber musician and educator. He has played in the main Mexican concert halls, as well as in auditoriums in the United States, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy and Japan. He has recorded 10 albums, focusing on Mexican concert repertoire. Among his records, his recordings of Mexican and Brazilian music stand out. He has also recorded Mexican music for string quartet with the String Quartet of Mexico City, and is a member of Croma ensemble, which is devoted to chamber music for strings. He was a founding member of the Coghlan string trio and Ensemble Acustico Arcana. As a composer, Gustavo Martin has made music for two plays and his catalogue of compositions includes works for various chamber ensembles and vocal works. In 2005, he was granted the National University Award for Young Academicians in Arts Teaching. He is Full professor at UNAM’s Faculty of Music, teaching violoncello and chamber music. On this new release, Martin performs Mexican concert music for solo cello, featuring works by Leticia Armijo, Daniel Martinez, Leticia Cuen, Lucia Alvarez, Maria Granilla, Alexis Aranda, Diana Syrse, and Enrique Santos.

Jessica Rivera Sings Romantic Music for Soprano, Clarinet &

IRMA GONZÁLEZ LIVE • Irma González (s); 1 Plácido Domingo, 2 Giuseppe di Stefano, 5 Jon Vickers (tn); 3 Oralia Dominguez, 4 Aurora Woodrow (ms); various cond & O • URTEXT 189/90, mono (2 CDs: 141: 42) Live: 1945–65


PUCCINI Madama Butterfly: Che tua madre; Con onor muore. La Bohème: Si, mi chiamano Mimi; Donde lieta usci; Quando m’en vo. Manon Lescaut: In quelle trine morbide. Tosca: Vissi d’arte; 1 O dolci mani. Turandot: Signore, ascolta. MASCAGNI L’Amico Fritz: Son pocchi fiori. LEONCAVALLO Pagliacci: Ballatella. GIORDANO Andrea Chenier: 2 Vicino a te. BOITO Mefistofele: L’altra notte; Spunta l’aurora pallida. BELLINI Norma: 3 Mira, o Norma. MASSENET Manon: Adieu, notre petite table; N’est-ce plus ma main. Hérodiade: Il est doux, il est bon. BIZET Carmen: Je dis que rien. TCHAIKOVSKY Maid of Orleans: Adieu, forêts. VERDI La Traviata: Addio del passato. Aida: O patria mia. Requiem: 4 Recordare. Otello: 5 Già nella notte densa; Era più calmo? … Piangea cantando; Ave Maria. La Forza del Destino: Pace, pace mio Dio. VARIOUS Songs from Meet Me in St. Louis


The long, sad list of exceptional singers who made few or no commercial recordings, from Jean de Reszke to Gilda Cruz-Romo, is now extended by these remarkable live performances over a span of 20 years by Mexican soprano Irma González. Previously, she had appeared on one V-Disc (a Spanish song) and a live performance of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony conducted by Bruno Walter, though there exists one commercial recording: songs by Manuel Ponce and Silvestre Revueltas. This two-CD set of broadcasts and live performances, then, fills a void and introduces us to an operatic soprano of remarkable achievement and artistry. The comparison to Cruz-Romo is especially apt. Like Cruz-Romo, González sang everything from Mozart to Verdi and Puccini, and also like Cruz-Romo, González was more than just a voice, she was an exciting, musical, and consummate artist.


When she made her debut in 1939, Giuseppe di Stefano had not yet sung in public, Jon Vickers had not begun vocal lessons, and Plácido Domingo had not been born, yet she sang with all of them—and with Ezio Pinza, Cesare Valletti, Mario del Monaco, Cesare Siepi, Giulietta Simionato, Grace Bumbry, Ettore Bastianini, Sherrill Milnes, Oralia Dominguez, Boris Christoff, Richard Tucker, and Giuseppe Taddei. There’s a remarkable 1980 video (in color) on YouTube of her singing “In questa reggia” from Turandot, at age 64, with a wonderful Calaf named David Portilla. She worked with such conductors as Kleiber, Klemperer, Ansermet, Casals, Walter, Beecham, and Markevitch. Her voice combined the rich, creamy colors of Renata Tebaldi with the brilliant high range of Marisa Galvany, but she was a more intense interpreter than the former and a more musical and finished vocalist than the latter. In short, she had it all. As a teacher, her most famous pupil was tenor Francisco Araiza. She died in 2008 at the age of 92.


By and large, the singing on this two-CD set is simply extraordinary. It takes one’s breath away. The final phrases of “Vissi d’arte,” for instance, are sung exactly as written, without the usual breaks or distortions that sopranos “traditionally” throw into it. The “Recordare” from the Verdi Requiem, with the little-known mezzo Aurora Woodrow, shows off her melting legato; the Ballatella from Pagliacci and “L’altra notte” from Mefistofele display a fine trill. “O patria mia” showcases her faultless line and extremely musical phrasing. Only once, for me, does she disappoint: Her “Addio del passato” is the healthiest- sounding performance I’ve ever heard, too loud and too insensitive to text. Not bad for a soprano you’ve never heard of before.


Considering that this is a Mexican production, the transfers are fairly good. At least some attempt was made to remove some of the surface noise, but not much, and the high notes are somewhat distorted in places depending on the quality of the original. On CD 2, there are also four errors in transfer: The Hérodiade aria is pitched a whole tone too high, Micaela’s aria from Carmen a quarter-tone too low, “Adieu, forêts” a half-tone high, and the “Recordare” a half-tone low, but when the sound is clear and full, with no distortion or blasting, you can hear the voice in all its glory. The bonus track comes from 1945, when González traveled to New York to record as soundtrack double to Judy Garland in the Mexican version of Meet Me in St. Louis, oddly renamed The Wheel of Fortune. Not too surprisingly, the best conducting comes from the well-known names here: Oliviero de Fabritiis, Carlo Felice Cellario, Anton Guadagno, and Igor Markevitch. The lavish booklet is full of interesting photos, including one with a baby-faced, 21-year-old Domingo, but alas, the text is only in Spanish. Full recording data is on the inside back cover. If you are a lover of outstanding vocal art, this has to be the surprise issue of the year.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

INVOCACIONES: Mexican Music for Flute and Piano • Evangelina Reyes (fl); Camelia Goila (pn) • URTEXT DIGITAL JBCC-188 (67:27)


ZYMAN Sonata for Flute and Piano. LAVISTA Dance of Degas’s Ballerinas. CORAL Not So Short Sonata for Flute and Piano. ARMENGOL Divertimento. ARANDA Mnemósine. Cadenza. LUNA Six Fantasies for Flute and Piano. E. TOUSSAINT Bop Study No.1 for Flute Solo


This is another one of those collections of miscellany that is so easily overlooked or dismissed—I would probably pass over it myself if I were just a reader of this magazine. But this recording offers fine performances of an extremely appealing recital program, with a repertoire that ranges from the truly superb to the merely pleasant. I will discuss the program in my own judgment of descending order of interest.


The most fully satisfying work is the 17-minute sonata by the Mexican-American composer Samuel Zyman, now in his late-50s, and a member of the Juilliard faculty for quite a few years. From my personal vantage point, Zyman’s music seems to have drawn little serious attention, but of nearly a dozen of his works that I’ve encountered over the years I haven’t heard one that failed to exhibit an irresistible sense of compelling creative urgency, vividly and expertly articulated within a general language of traditional modern neoclassicism. But unlike the neoclassical norm, often characterized by a cool detachment and lack of emotional commitment, Zyman’s music is always serious and expressive in tone, with a driving contrapuntal energy. I cannot imagine a flutist who wouldn’t relish a work like this, which grabs the listener intensely from the first moment and never lets go. The piece it most resembles is the perennially popular Sonata for Flute and Piano by the late Robert Muczynski, but Zyman’s 1993 sonata is somewhat more driven and edgy.


Also of considerable interest and appeal is the Dance of Degas’s Ballerinas , composed in 1992 by Mario Lavista. Born in 1943, Lavista seems to have the most cosmopolitan academic pedigree of the composers represented, having studied with a range of mentors from Nadia Boulanger and György Ligeti to Karlheinz Stockhausen. But the short piece that we hear here is a consistently absorbing abstract work in a modern traditionalist style. Some listeners may find their imaginations stimulated by the title, but I heard no convincing musical connection to the suggested images, yet had no problem connecting with the piece as pure music.


Leonardo Coral, born in 1962, is a prolific composer whose music has been performed widely throughout Mexico. His four-movement piece, whose title may be translated as Not So Short Sonata for Flute and Piano , dates from 2003. It is a pleasant piece with an occasional reminiscence of Poulenc—pretty, straightforward, but with no plumbing of expressive depths. Mario Ruiz Armengol (1914-2002) was a versatile figure in Mexican music, celebrated in the classical, light classical, and popular fields. His Divertimento in G (1979) for alto flute and piano is a gracious, warmly lyrical piece. Alexis Aranda, not yet 40 and the youngest composer represented here, has been hailed as a major talent within the Mexican music establishment. A student of Mario Lavista, noted above, he is represented here by two very short pieces. The first, Mnemósine , refers to the goddess of memory. Dating from 2002, it begins with striking dissonance, but quickly warms up to an appealingly tonal lyricism. The earlier Cadenza for unaccompanied flute is a rather late addition to a genre overflowing with mediocre pieces.


Armando Luna (b. 1964) received his graduate training under Leonardo Balada at Carnegie Mellon University, while his career has flourished actively in his native Mexico. The program notes accompanying his Six Fantasies of 1992 make all sorts of intriguingly colorful references, but the actual music does not bear them out and is rather ordinary if pleasant enough. Like many of the composers represented on this recital, Eugenio Toussaint (1954-2011) was active in Mexico’s popular, jazz, and classical worlds. His Bop Study No. 1 (1994) was originally written for recorder, but Evangelina Reyes transcribed it for flute. As it stands, the short piece exploits a wide range of flute effects, both familiar and unconventional, many of them suggestive of “bop”-style jazz. All the pieces are performed expertly by both Reyes and her accompanist Camelia Goila.


FANFARE: Walter Simmons

Jose, A.: Guitar Sonata / Cordero, E.: 3 Cantigas Negras / P

This release features two wandering musical landscapes inhabiting a poetic world by Abbas Kiarostami. Joanna Kamenarska was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. She began her violin studies with Josif Radionov in Sofia before continued in 1995 with Ruggiero Ricci and Igor Ozim at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Joanna has been awarded numerous prizes at international competitions from the age of ten, including third rize of the International Mozart Competition Salzburg in January, 2002. Joanna was also a semi-finalist in the Queen Elizabeth International Competition and the Sibelius Competition, 2005. Born in Barcelona in 1980, Moisès is an active concert pianist, music curator and passionate writer. He began his musical education at the age of ten and was lauded only three years later by the press as “un nom qui’l faudrá retenir!” [a name to remember!] at his official début in the French city of Agen in 1993. He is a winner of the Scarlatti International Piano Competition in Naples (Italy) and the Richmond Piano Competition in Boston (USA). He was also a nominee for the Arthur W. Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association and a finalist for the Kahn Career Award.

Gabriela Ortiz: Denibée

JAZZ FOR FRIENDS

FOLIE