{"id":8441,"date":"2017-11-28T14:45:35","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T22:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=8441"},"modified":"2017-11-28T14:45:35","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T22:45:35","slug":"sharon-isbin-and-isabel-leonards-alma-espanola-is-overflowing-with-iberian-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/sharon-isbin-and-isabel-leonards-alma-espanola-is-overflowing-with-iberian-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharon Isbin and Isabel Leonard\u2019s \u2018Alma Espa\u00f1ola\u2019 is Overflowing with Iberian Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"
From the Winter 2017 issue of Classical Guitar | BY BLAIR JACKSON<\/h6>\n

Sharon Isbin and Argentinian American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard\u2019s enchanting recent album Alma Espa\u00f1ola<\/i><\/strong><\/a> is, according to the guitarist, the first devoted to Spanish \u201cart song\u201d since Narciso Yepes and Castilian mezzo Teresa Berganza put out their Canciones Populares Espa\u00f1olas<\/i> record on Deutsche Grammophon 40 years ago. That LP consisted of Federico Garcia Lorca\u2019s 13\u00a0Canciones espa\u00f1ola antiguas<\/i> and Manuel de Falla\u2019s\u00a0Siete canciones populares\u00a0espa\u00f1olas. <\/i>Those two suites form the backbone of the release by Isbin and Leonard\u2014with new arrangements by Isbin on the Garcia Lorca set (\u201cIt was really important for me to expand on the guitar parts in a way that had not been done before,\u201d she says)\u2014but there is also quite a lot more: A splendid version of Joaqu\u00edn Rodrigo\u2019s Aranjuez ma pens\u00e9e<\/i> (with touching and evocative lyrics by Rodrigo\u2019s wife, Victoria Kamhi); Agust\u00edn Lara\u2019s lovely Granada;<\/i>\u00a0a pair of Isbin adaptations of works by Spanish composer Xavier Montsalvatge; and two splendid solo showcases for Isbin: Granados\u2019 Danza\u00a0espa\u00f1ola No. 5 <\/i>and T\u00e1rrega\u2019s Capricho\u00a0\u00e1rabe<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The blend of Isbin\u2019s guitar and Leonard\u2019s voice is both powerful and exquisite, and listeners who take the time to really delve into the lyrics of the songs\u2014which range from impressionistic scenes and small life moments to dramatic stories about love and death (by bull!)\u2014will be richly rewarded. (The accompanying booklet offers both the Spanish lyrics and English translations.) The recording, produced by David Frost and recorded by Tim Martyn and Bryan Losch, is exemplary. It\u2019s a wonderful project in every respect.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"I caught up with Sharon Isbin by phone in late July, when she was in Colorado playing at the Aspen Music Festival. <\/span>We talked about the new album.<\/p>\n

CLASSICAL GUITAR:<\/b> What was the initial inspiration for this project? Have you two known each other for many years?<\/p>\n

SHARON ISBIN:<\/b> No, it\u2019s fairly recent. This was Isabel\u2019s idea back in 2013. I had not yet met her, but we have the same management\u2014Columbia Artist Management in New York\u2014and she had told her manager that she\u2019d like to perform with me. Because she is of Argentinian background, Spanish is a native language for her, and this kind of music is idiomatic because it was inspired by the guitar, even if it wasn\u2019t written for it. If you look at the songs by Manuel de Falla\u2014which Isabel has performed with piano\u2014it makes sense to play them on guitar because that is the instrument Falla idealized when he wrote the music. And so many of the Spanish folk songs are influenced by flamenco, so it\u2019s in a way \u201ccoming home\u201d to perform them with guitar. In fact, Isabel prefers the Falla Siete canciones populares<\/i> this way, now that she\u2019s experienced it. <\/span><\/p>\n

After she suggested the idea, I heard her in concert and immediately thought it would be a wonderful collaboration. She\u2019s an outstanding singer and this is exactly the kind of music I enjoy doing. As we researched the songs by Garc\u00eda Lorca, it became clear I would have to make new arrangements of each, because the published versions were lacking something. It became a collaborative process where we would rehearse and discuss the meaning of the lyrics and the kind of characterization and storytelling in the songs, so the guitar could be very much a part of that. If, for example, something was loud and raucous in its spirit, or instead delicate, I would have to find a way to present that. In one of the Garcia Lorca songs, a young man sets out to find a bride but instead finds his long-lost sister. Isabel suggested I play the final verse an octave higher to imitate the sister\u2019s voice, an idea that paints the image of the character and the song\u2019s dramatic outcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything we did together was not only carefully thought out in rehearsal, but also road-tested in concert. <\/span><\/p>\n