Alma y Fuego
Works by Manuel de Falla
Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Gustavo Dudamel
Platoon PLAT3097 58 mins
Given the passionate nature of Manuel de Falla’s music, it’s hardly surprising that this engaging release should carry the title Alma y Fuego (Soul and Fire).
Yet you could argue that there’s more soul and less fire in Gustavo Dudamel’s interpretation of El amor brujo. This is particularly the case with the standout numbers such as the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ and the ‘Dance of Terror’ which pack far less punch than is often the case.
But despite this apparent lack of forcefulness, there are ample compensations in Dudamel’s approach which underlines the work’s smouldering passion, and revels in the exotic richness and sophistication of de Falla’s orchestration.
Another plus is the mesmerising contribution of Andalusian folk singer Pasión Vega who inflects the vocal writing with a raw flamenco-style earthiness that follows the composer’s intention of casting this work as a gitanería, or danced gypsy entertainment.
There’s also much to savour in Javier Perianes’s beautifully modulated account of the Nights in the Gardens of Spain. Once again, Dudamel, supported by superbly responsive playing from the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, comes up trumps in realising an almost spontaneous flexibility of tempo throughout its three movements, and in creating an atmospheric and evocative cushion of sound as an impressionistic backdrop to Perianes’s magical pianism.
The orchestra comes into its own in the Second Suite from the ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, delivering ravishingly delicate playing in the ‘Danza de los vecinos’ and pulling out all the stops in the ‘Danza final’.
A wonderful tribute to this great Spanish composer on the 150th anniversary of his birth.
