Release Date: 01 May 2006
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313263226
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: GURIDI
Description
Jes??s Guridi (1886-1961) El Caserio (The Homestead) - Lyric Comedy in Three Acts Original Libretto in Castilian by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernandez-Shaw Santi - Vicente Sardinero (Baritone) Ana Mari - Ana Rodrigo (Soprano) Jose Miguel - Emilio Sanchez (Tenor) Chomin - Felipe Nieto (Tenor) Don Leoncio / Don Jesusito / Man?? - Fernando Latorre (Tenor) Eustasia / Inosensia - Maria Jose Suarez (Soprano) Sociedad Coral de Bilbao (Gorka Sierra, Director) Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao Juan Jose Mena, Director The 1926 premi?¿re of El Caserio (The Homestead) at Madrid's Teatro de la Zarzuela was one of the highlights of Guridi's career. He had wanted to find a new direction after his earlier stage works (Mirentxu and Amaya), while keeping the Basque setting, and did so with this three-act zarzuela, confident that his skill and theatrical flair would win him a place amongst the great figures of the genre. This, the first of Guridi's seven operatic works in Castilian (rather than Basque) signalled the start of a fruitful relationship with librettists Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernandez-Shaw, then at the height of their powers following the huge success of Dona Francisquita (one of the best works of its genre). El Caserio tells the story of the people of an imaginary Basque village, Arrigorri. Santi, owner of the homestead Sasibill, hopes its future will be assured by marriage between his nephew and niece: Jose Miguel, who loves the good things in life, and his sweet-natured cousin Ana Mari, with whose mother Santi was secretly in love. Santi has to use all his ingenuity in order to show the womanising Jose Miguel that he is really in love with his cousin. The plot progresses steadily towards its predictably happy ending with a good mix of simplicity and humour along the way, not forgetting of course picturesque touches in the shape of local songs, festivities, processions, dances and a contest between bertsolaris (poetry improvisers). Different social classes are represented in the story, and the dialogue includes examples of certain syntactic elements peculiar to the Castilian spoken in Basque villages. Unlike Amaya, which follows the Wagnerian model, El Caserio is composed in the classic zarzuela structure of consecutive numbers, with distinct romanzas, ensembles and choruses. Basque colour is present throughout the score, introduced by means of dance rhythms, notably that of the zortziko which acts as a common thread woven through the whole musical fabric. It appears in the most significant sections, each time adapted to the particular nature of the action: tender and sentimental in Santi's romanza, grandiose in the second-act prologue, defiant in the bertsolaris' contest and loving in the second-act finale. El Caserio contains Basque folk songs and dance rhythms, as well as original melodies composed along the lines of traditional folk music, a technique at which Guridi excelled. It also includes, as was usual for the genre, n
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
