Paco Pena, Academy Of St Martin In The Fields - Misa Flamenca
STYLE: Classical RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 11022- LABEL: Nimbus FORMAT: CD Album
Reviewed by Dave Massey
I found the idea of a flamenco mass complete with guitars, flamenco singers ("El Chaparro", "Dieguito" and "Guddiana") and percussion, quite intriguing and after pinning back my luggholes for the 40 minute duration was not disappointed. The highlights were in the choral arrangements - notably "Canto Penitencial" with their evocative harmonies - that positively oozed sorrow and repentance, sung by Dieguito and Gualdiana (why do I feel like I'm writing a script for High Chaparal?!). The depth of expression reached by the choir and these singers really reinforced the meaning of the words they were singing. One of the criticisms of 'flamenco' is its rather limited harmonic vocabulary and the overuse of the Phrygia mode - I for one couldn't face listening to vast amounts of it - but the novelty of the idea and some sophisticated adaption by the flamenco master, Paco Pena, along with some rather 'wicked' percussion by Jose Losada and Cesar Victoriano provides a bit of interest. On the other side of the coin, I found the strident (caustic even) tones of "El Chaparro" a little too much to bear-it was akin to standing in the middle of a maternity ward at feeding time. The mix wasn't quite right either - although to be fair to the engineers, trying to balance an 18 voice choir, 3 soloists and 3 guitars in a 'live' environment must have been a nightmare par-exellence!
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