El Delfín de Música - Works by Luys de Narváez
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Luys de Narváez
Label: Almaviva
Magazine Review Date: 11/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 63
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: DS0116
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(Los) Seys libros del Delphin, Movement: ~ |
Luys de Narváez, Composer
Juan Carlos Rivera, Vihuela Luys de Narváez, Composer Marta Almajano, Soprano Pedro Ormazábal, Tenor |
Author: Tess Knighton
The most recent disc from the Musical Heritage of Andalusia series produced by the Junta de Andalucia on the Almaviva label explores the collection of music for vihuela and voice published by Luys de Narvaez in 1538 with the title El Delfin de la Musica. It is the second of the extant vihuela books from sixteenth-century Spain, and without doubt one of the finest. This CD represents a good cross-section of the repertory from the collection, including intabulations of Mass movements and other works by Franco-Netherlandish composers such as Josquin and Gombert, as well as the better known variations, fantasias and song arrangements. For the latter the vihuelist Juan Carlos Rivera is joined by the soprano Marta Almajano and, for one item, the tenor Pedro Ormazabal. He sings the elegant setting of La bella mal maridada (a song sung from the male viewpoint), and he does so very nicely.
Almajano, whose discography is increasing at quite a rate, also sings very beautifully, able to sustain the vocal line effortlessly and ornament expressively while the vihuela spins its gossamer web around it. Rivera is a fine player, perhaps a little too inclined to pull around the tempo (for example, in the variations on Guardame las vacas), but able to bring out the counterpoint in the Fantasias as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The question of tempo is an interesting one; in the variation sets the speed can be dictated by the smallest note value of the passagework, but in an intabulation such as the Richafort song, or even in the ballad Paseavase el rey moro, the possibilities are much wider. In the ballads the story-telling aspect suffers if the vocal line is too slow, while the vihuela accompaniment might well sound too frenetic if taken too fast. Rivera and Almajano take a middle course between such extremes, and it generally works quite well.
The recorded sound is good, although the voices tend to overshadow the instrumental accompaniment in the sung items, while the vihuela noticeably steps out of the shade for the solo pieces. It would have been good, perhaps, to maintain the same level on the vihuela throughout. Despite such minor reservations, this is a thoroughly enjoyable disc and it comes with an excellent essay on Narvaez and his book by John Griffiths, himself a vihuelist.'
Almajano, whose discography is increasing at quite a rate, also sings very beautifully, able to sustain the vocal line effortlessly and ornament expressively while the vihuela spins its gossamer web around it. Rivera is a fine player, perhaps a little too inclined to pull around the tempo (for example, in the variations on Guardame las vacas), but able to bring out the counterpoint in the Fantasias as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The question of tempo is an interesting one; in the variation sets the speed can be dictated by the smallest note value of the passagework, but in an intabulation such as the Richafort song, or even in the ballad Paseavase el rey moro, the possibilities are much wider. In the ballads the story-telling aspect suffers if the vocal line is too slow, while the vihuela accompaniment might well sound too frenetic if taken too fast. Rivera and Almajano take a middle course between such extremes, and it generally works quite well.
The recorded sound is good, although the voices tend to overshadow the instrumental accompaniment in the sung items, while the vihuela noticeably steps out of the shade for the solo pieces. It would have been good, perhaps, to maintain the same level on the vihuela throughout. Despite such minor reservations, this is a thoroughly enjoyable disc and it comes with an excellent essay on Narvaez and his book by John Griffiths, himself a vihuelist.'
Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.
Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £9.20 / month
SubscribeGramophone Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £11.45 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.