Isabel Leonard Enchants With Spanish Classics

Details

Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 12 December 2022 15:18

Written by Jack Angstreich

Isabel Leonard (L) and Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, photo by Lawrence Sumulong

At Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, on the evening of Friday, December 9th, I had the tremendous privilege to attend a magnificent, Spanish-themed concert featuring the gorgeous mezzo-soprano, Isabel Leonard, brilliantly accompanied by classical guitarist, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas.

The first half of the program, in which the singer wore a sexy, sparkling black gown, opened stunningly with the extraordinary Seguidilla, from Georges Bizet’s Carmen,which she followed with the equally famous and indelible aria,“Voi che sapete,” from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. As memorable was her impossibly charming rendition of the delightful “Tu n'es pas beau, Tu n'es pas riche” from Jacques Offenbach’s decidedly underrated operetta, La Périchole: Couplets de l'aveu. Less commonly heard was the beautiful Canzonetta Spagnuola of Gioachino Rossini. Sáinz-Villegas then returned to the stage alone for a mesmerizing performance of the haunting Recuerdos de la Alhambra of 1899, one of the most celebrated works for solo classical guitar. Less tuneful and more austere than what preceded, but nonetheless powerful, were Leonard’s five arresting selections from Siete canciones populares españolas of 1914 by Manuel De Falla, probably the greatest modern Spanish composer: “El paño moruno,” “Asturiana,” “Nana,” “Canción,” and “Polo.” (She has recorded the entire set of songs twice.) In a program note for the La Jolla Music Society, Eric Bromberger commented that “In arranging the collection of songs, Falla took the unaccompanied melodic line of seven Spanish popular or folk songs and harmonized them himself, occasionally rewriting or expanding the original melodic line to suit his own purposes.”

After intermission, Sáinz-Villegas opened the second half of the event by masterfully playing an arrangement for solo guitar of Isaac Albeniz’s marvelous Asturias from his Suite espagnole of 1889, one of the most renowned works in the Spanish repertoire. Leonard then returned to the stage—she wore a fabulous, shimmering gold gown designed by Naeem Khan—to compellingly perform a another seldom heard but nonetheless remarkable selection of the Canciones Españolas Antiguas of the revered poet, Federico García-Lorca (who according to Bromberger, collected, arranged, and harmonized the twelve Spanish folk songs that constitute the set): “La Tarara,” “Nana de Sevilla,” and “Sevillanas del s. XVIII.” (She has recorded these as well.)

The remainder of the program was in a more popular idiom, beginning with Sáinz-Villegas enjoyably playing Tango en Skäi by French composer Roland Dyens. Leonard’s Argentine heritage was reflected in her choice of another exquisite tango,“El día que me quieras,” by the most renowned practitioner of the form, Carlos Gardel—a song which she performed unforgettably. The next song— the basis of which was another Latin-American dance-form, the zamba—was the classic “Alfonsina y el Mar” by Ariel Ramírez, with lyrics by Félix Luna, written as a tribute to the eminent Argentine poetess, Alfonsina Storni. The program concluded wonderfully with a pleasurable bolero, the 1959 “Sabor a mí,” by Mexican composer Álvaro Carrillo.

Enthusiastic applause was rewarded with three sterling encores, starting with the enormously popular, enchanting bolero,“Bésame mucho,” by Consuelo Velázquez. However, nothing in the evening could surpass the sublimity of Leonard’s rendition of the “Habanera” from Carmen.Finally, she winningly sang the bewitching, familiar “Cielito Lindo” by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés, joyfully ending a fantastic encounter.

• < Prev
• Next >