Argentinean mezzo Bernarda Fink is riding that fleeting, magical time, late — but not too late — in a musician’s career when they have deep insight into their art as well as full command over their instrument.
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The busy singer’s most recent product of this golden period is Canciones, an album of songs by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), Enrique Granados (1876-1916) and Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) for the Harmonia Mundi label.
Her able-fingered accompanist is Anthony Spiri.
These 33 gorgeous songs, arranged with a careful ear to texture and pacing, represent the pinnacle of Spanish art-song craft.
Most include some form of folk allusion, borrowing exotic melismas or rhythms from popular dances. Many also are influenced by French Impressionism, helping give much of the music a discreetly coloured, smoothly wafting, otherworldly character.
Some of the pieces, like the Seven Popular Spanish Songs by Falla, are well known. But the contributions by Rodrigo are more obscure, and they shouldn’t be.
The arresting beauty of Rodrigo’s song settings repeatedly stopped me in my tracks. Especially affecting are the Four Sephardic Songs, which he finished in 1965.
Rodrigo uses the very simplest of means — sparse notes and chords lightly garlanded around a melody — to dig deep wells of emotion.
Fink’s rich mezzo is a fascinating mix of fine and raw silk, and she alternates between the two sounds seamlessly in her quest to render the affect of each song. At the same time, Fink underplays large gestures while lavishing attention on polishing each syllable and shaping each phrase. It’s a painstaking approach brilliantly mirrored in Spiri’s work at the piano.
Here is a brilliantly seductive parnership of singer, pianist, composer and poet that begs for dedicated, repeat listening.
The Harmonia Mundi website doesn’t appear to be working well, so here is a snapshot of the album’s contents:
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Here is Fink singing an aria from Handel’s Theodora in Salzburg, followed by, in a nod to the season, “Schliess, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder” from Part 3 of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio:
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
