COMPOSERS: Bosch etc,Lacosta,Miquel,Morales
LABELS: DG
ALBUM TITLE: Pasión Española
WORKS: Works by Morales, Lacosta, Miquel, Bosch etc
PERFORMER: Plácido Domingo (tenor), José María Gallardo del Rey (guitar); Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid/Miguel Roa
CATALOGUE NO: 477 6590
The popular Spanish form of the copla is celebrated by Plácido Domingo in 13 examples mostly written between the 1930s and the 1950s. The form hasn’t travelled beyond the Spanish‑speaking world, and there’s no real English equivalent, though the pop ballad comes nearest. Some translated titles – ‘You bewitched me’, ‘The Well‑Paid Girl’, ‘Fake Coin’ – indicate the emotional territory. These are almost entirely songs about love, mostly unhappy, in which a man behaves badly to a woman, or vice versa; occasionally the love object is the man’s mother, or even Spain itself. There’s almost always a story being told, very often with the bitter insight of experience. Musically, these are attractive numbers of their kind, even if 13 is enough to be going on with. Some are reminiscent of hits from zarzuela (the characteristic Spanish form of operetta), others clearly dance-based. Distinctive Spanish melodic and harmonic inflections are everywhere. Naturally, Domingo sounds idiomatic and perfectly accomplished in this material, and so does the orchestra. Those with an ear for Spanish popular music will not be disappointed by this disc. George Hall