This unique album is a labor of love by four musicians who have come together to pay tribute to the music of Spanish legend Joaquín Rodrigo. The Spanish Art Quartet's connection to the composer is direct, as it consulted with him on the music. Rodrigo's famous Concierto de Aranjuez shows up in two incarnations here, as the first and last pieces on the album. The first is an introspective take on the work played on the guitar, and the last is a song with lyrics by Rodrigo's wife Victoria Kamhi and Alfred García Segura. Sung ...
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This unique album is a labor of love by four musicians who have come together to pay tribute to the music of Spanish legend Joaquín Rodrigo. The Spanish Art Quartet's connection to the composer is direct, as it consulted with him on the music. Rodrigo's famous Concierto de Aranjuez shows up in two incarnations here, as the first and last pieces on the album. The first is an introspective take on the work played on the guitar, and the last is a song with lyrics by Rodrigo's wife Victoria Kamhi and Alfred García Segura. Sung by soprano Janet Whitmore-Johnson, it conjures up a beloved place with great tenderness. Whitmore-Johnson features prominently on the album, such as in the song cycle Cuatro madrigales amatorios. One might hear echoes of English Renaissance songs in "Vos me mastáseis," and Whitmore-Johnson's voice is warm and full with a solid core, though on occasion it becomes slightly reedy or shrill in higher notes or on particular vowels. The violin appears for the Set cançons valencianes,...
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