This enjoyable two-disc set, from a small company specializing in music of Spain's Andalucía region, explores a figure who turns up in music history narratives covering regions far from Spain. The composer of the three short operatic works recorded here, Manuel García, was better known as an operatic tenor. He was closely associated with Rossini, performing several of his most famous roles, and later he traveled to the Americas. He gave the New York premiere of Don Giovanni, but his New World triumphs were cut short when ...
Read More
This enjoyable two-disc set, from a small company specializing in music of Spain's Andalucía region, explores a figure who turns up in music history narratives covering regions far from Spain. The composer of the three short operatic works recorded here, Manuel García, was better known as an operatic tenor. He was closely associated with Rossini, performing several of his most famous roles, and later he traveled to the Americas. He gave the New York premiere of Don Giovanni, but his New World triumphs were cut short when road bandits in Mexico robbed him of everything he owned. He composed about 40 operatic works, some of them serious, but the three pieces recorded here are all comic. They are never less than sprightly, and at their best they reveal an overlooked composer of significant talent. The two works on CD 1, dating from a few years on either side of 1800, are tonadillas, one-act comic pieces with some affinities to the Italian intermezzo and incorporating elements of distance from the action...
Read Less
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.