De Falla: 7 Canciones Populares Espanolas

My foray in Spanish repertoire continues to pay dividends. Buried in a collection of popular cello pieces issued on the superbudget Brilliant label I found an instrumental version of de Falla's Siete Canciones (billed as Suite populaire Espagnole). Klara Würtz on the piano accompanies the Israeli Timora Rossler on cello. I found it altogether an attractive but rather lightweight piece, remarkably mellifluous and replete with typically Spanish touches. However, a comparison with the original version for voice and piano more forcefully revealed the remarkable qualities of this collection. The voice was Teresa Berganza's accompanied by Juan Antonio Alvarez Parejo on the piano. This too is a Brilliant collection (3CD) that brings together a series of recordings originally issued in the mid-1980s by the Swiss label Claves. This comes 10 years later than the recital I have on a DGG LP but Berganza still sounds fresh and authoritative. The Siete Canciones is only a small part of a wide ranging programme that includes a disc with de Falla's Corregidor, a Spanish recital (encompassing work by Granados, Turina, Guridi - a full version of the Seis Canciones Castellanas - and Toldra) and a disc with Brazilian songs. In the hands of Berganza and her accompanist these de Falla songs transcend the realm of Spanish folklore. The thoughtful Asturiana, in shadowy F minor, jumps out as the emotional centre of gravity of the collection (allegedly Glenn Gould once said if he could be any key, he would be F minor, because "it's rather dour, halfway between complex and stable, between upright and lascivious, between gray and highly tinted...There is a certain obliqueness). When I returned to the version for cello and piano later on, it had gained in stature as well. But my preference remains clearly with the voice.