The music of Alberto Ginastera, arguably the most important Argentine composer, is still terra incognita for most of us. Warner Classics has collected several of his vocal works on a CD, with shining contributions from Plácido Domingo and Virginia Tola.
If people dó know any music by Alberto Ginastera, it will most likely be his Cinco canciones populares argentinas. Many South American (and not just South American!) singers have them in their repertoire and perform them at their recitals. No wonder really; the songs are simply wonderful.
The performance by Ana-María Martínez for Warner disappoints me a little. She has a beautiful, warm soprano voice with sharp edges here and there, but I like that. The problem: the songs are really nothing more than folk songs in disguise and Martínez approaches them like an opera singer: too beautiful, too cultivated.
I don’t really like Shimon Cohen’s arrangement for orchestra either. The orchestral sound is very intrusive, it all becomes too much. You can achieve more with a simple piano accompaniment. Put the beautiful performance by Raoul Giménéz with Nina Walker (Nimbus) next to it and hear the difference!
The scenes from ‘Don Rodrigo’ are no less than a gift, but: why only the two scenes? There is still no official recording of the opera, which can best be described – in terms of musical structure – as the Argentine Wozzeck.
Plácido Domingo already sang the lead role at the opera’s US premiere in 1966 (!), at the New York City Opera. It’s hard to compare his voice then and now, but his great aria “Señor del Perdón”, still rings like a bell.
Domingo sings “Señor del Perdón”, , recording from 22 February 1966:
In 1966, the role of Rodrigo’s beloved Florinda was sung by Jeannine Crader, an American soprano who was also the first to record Ginestera’s cantata Milena. In the new recording, Domingo is joined by the brilliant Argentine soprano Virginia Tola. Her voice is childlike naïve and dramatic at the same time. Her last words after Rodrigo’s death will continue to haunt your mind.
Like Jeannine Crader then, Tola also takes care of Milena, something I can only applaud. Milena, a cantata composed on letters Kafka wrote to Milena Jesenská is no less than a masterpiece. I am very surprised that it is not widely known and performed everywhere: the work makes such a deep impact. Virginia Tola’s dramatic approach is at once awe-inspiring and chilling. What an artiste!
Dear programmers, intendants and dramaturgs of most European (and certainly Dutch!) opera houses: there is so much more beyond Mozart, Strauss, Wagner and the occasional Verdi!
Alberto Ginastera
The Vocal Album
Plácido Domingo, Ana Maria Martinez, Virginia Tola and others;
Santa Barbara Orchestra conducted by Gisèle Ben-Dor
Warner Classics 0825646868308
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De wegen (en de programmering) van sommige operahuizen zijn ondoorgrondelijk. Want waarom de ene opera wel en de andere niet?
Basia con fuoco 