Mari Kodama - De Falla: Noches en los Jardines de España & El Sombrero de Tres Picos (2017)

Manuel de Falla's richly evocative music erupts in a riot of colour in this vibrant new recording from Kazuki Yamada with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Works included are the ever popular Noches en los jardines de España and El sombrero de tres picos as well as movements from La vida breve and El amor brujo.

The sultry warm atmosphere of an Andalusian night is almost palpable in Falla's spellbinding Noches en los jardines de España. With its shimmering, sensuous harmonies, exquisite orchestral colours and exuberant melodies and rhythms, it's perhaps Falla's most impressionistic work. Using a large orchestral canvas on which he paints with deft, luminous strokes, Falla skilfully integrates a virtuoso piano part to create lovingly evocative music, full of captivating beauty. Elsewhere with the sensational ballet El sombrero de tres picos, Falla conjures up music steeped in Andalusian culture which is boisterous, full-bloodied, and urgent.

Yamada's previous recordings with the OSR for PENTATONE have been widely praised Exquisite and passionate … grace abounds (BBC Music Magazine), tastefully refined (Gramophone). For their more recent release of music by Roussel, Debussy and Poulenc, HRAudio.net noted Yamada's exuberant performance and the OSR playing …[with] tremendous vitality and enthusiasm, as if their very lives depended on it.

The pianist Mari Kodama has established an international reputation for profound musicality and articulate virtuosity and has recorded extensively for PENTATONE. Her most recent release with her sister Momo Kodama, a sizzling account of Tchaikovsky ballets, was praised by The Guardian for its sparkle and style and described by Artamag as …a very exciting recording, a labour of love by two extraordinary pianists. Frequently in demand as an interpreter of Mozart's works, the mezzo soprano Sophie Harmsen is a regular performer in large international festivals.

TRACKLIST
01. Noches en los Jardines de España: I. En el Generalife - Mari Kodama
02. Noches en los Jardines de España: II. Danza Lejana - Mari Kodama
03. Noches en los Jardines de España: III. En los Jardines de la Sierra de Córdoba - Mari Kodama
04. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 1: Introduction - Sophie Harmsen
05. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 1: Part I: La Tarde - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
06. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 1: Part I: Danza de la Molinera - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
07. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 1: Part I: Las Uvas - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
08. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 2: Part II: Danza de los Vecinos - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
09. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 2: Part II: Danza del Molinera - Sophie Harmsen
10. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 2: Part II: Danza del Corregidor - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
11. El Sombrero de Tres Picos, Pt. 2: Part II: Danza Final - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
12. La Vida Breve: Interlude & Dance - L'Orchestre la Suisse Romande
13. El Amor Brujo: Danza Ritual del Fuego - L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

PERSONNEL
Mari Kodama, piano (in Nights in the Gardens of Spain)
Sophie Harmsen, mezzo-soprano (in The Three-cornered Hat)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Kazuki Yamada, conductor