GCD 920309 ‘La Tirana contra Mambrú’: New release information April 2009 Spanish tonadilla from c.1800

NOTES (ENG) NOTES (FRA)

What was the musical soundtrack for the Quelle était la bande sonore du peuple espagnol ordinary people of Spain at the turn of the 18th dont Goya peignait magistralement la vie century, when Goya was painting his quotidienne au tournant du XVIIIe siècle alors masterpieces and foreign influences (epitomized que les influences étrangères (symbolisées par by the figure of Mambrú on this recording) le Mambrú de ce disque) pleuvaient de tous were raining down on the country from all sorts côtés sur le pays ? Sous une forme dramatique, of different directions? A dramatic form, the la tonadilla était une gazette des menus tonadilla, which acted as the gossip column of évènements, une sorte de bouche-à-oreille de the day whilst attracting the leading composers l’actualité qui envoûta les meilleurs compositeurs of the age, powerfully caught the mood of the et sut exprimer l’air du temps en faisant entrer times and made household names of its star ses vedettes dans la légende populaire. Née singers. Starting off as short intermezzos comme un petit intermezzo joué pendant les performed during the intervals of theatre plays, entractes de pièces plus sérieuses, la tonadilla the tonadillas evolved into mini operas, reflecting se convertit peu à peu en un mini opéra, qui La Tirana contra Mambrú in a critically humorous manner the trials and reflétait d’un humour caustique les joies, les The tonadilla and popular musical comedies tribulations as well as the joys of everyday life tribulations et les plaisirs journaliers en mettant in Spain c.1800 as seen through a whole host of memorable en scène tout un catalogue de caractères traditional Spanish characters. espagnols inoubliables. El Concierto Español Emilio Moreno, violin & director Directing El Concierto Español, Emilio Moreno À la tête du Concierto Español, Emilio Moreno expertly captures the spirit of the characterful capture d’une main experte l’esprit Raquel Andueza, soprano musical maze ahead that is populated by the magiquement incarné dans le fandango, le Marta Infante, mezzosoprano fandango, zorongo, caballo, jopeo and especially zorongo, le caballo, le jopeo et tout Juan Sancho, tenor the tirana – the bustling, vigorous Spanish particulièrement la tirana – la danse espagnole Jordi Ricart, baritone dance form which brought the crowds into the pétillante, vigoureuse qui attira les foules au theatres for performance after performance. théâtre, jour après jour. Et pour parfaire la And to assume the roles of those Enlightenment représentation, Moreno – métamorphosé en Programme pop heroes in Spain Moreno – as our modern- maître du bal de l’époque contemporaine – a day maestro de baile – is joined by the versatile invité les talentueux et versatiles Raquel La Tirana del Trípili singing talents of Raquel Andueza, Marta Andueza, Marta Infante, Juan Sancho et Jordi Blas de Laserna (1751-1816) Infante, Juan Sancho and Jordi Ricart. Ricart à assumer les rôles des pop stars de l’Espagne du Siècle des Lumières. El desengañado Blas de Laserna

Los payos del Malbrú NOTIZEN (DEU) NOTAS (ESP) Pablo Esteve (c.1730-c.1801) Was war für das einfache Volk in Spanien der ¿Cuál era la banda sonora del pueblo español No aparece la Tirana musikalische Hintergrund an der Wende zum cuya vida cotidiana pintaba magistralmente Blas de Laserna 18. Jahrhundert, als Goya seine Meisterwerke Goya a la vuelta del siglo XVIII, mientras llovían malte und fremde Einflüsse (die auf dieser a mares influencias extranjeras de toda clase, La cantada vida y muerte del General Malbrú Aufnahme von der Figur des Mambrú verkörpert simbolizadas por el Mambrú de este disco? Bajo Jacinto Valledor (1744-1809) werden) von allen Seiten auf das Land una forma dramática, la tonadilla, suerte de einstürmten? Mit einem dramatischen Genre, correveidile de la actualidad, conquistó a los La Tirana se despide der tonadilla, die als Klatschkolumne diente und mejores compositores y supo expresar el aire Blas de Laserna die damals führenden Komponisten in ihren del tiempo haciendo entrar a sus estelares Bann zog, wurde die Stimmung jener Zeit auf cantantes en la leyenda popular. Nacida como eindringliche Weise eingefangen, und die Namen un pequeño intermezzo interpretado durante Production details berühmter tonadilla-Sänger waren in aller Munde. el entreacto de obras más serias, la tonadilla Zu Anfang waren die tonadillas nur kurze se convirtió poco a poco en una mini-ópera, Total playing time 62:34 Intermezzi, die in den Pausen von Theaterstücken que reflejaba con cáustico humor el sentir diario Recorded in Madrid in October 2008 gespielt wurden, aber bald entwickelten sie sich del pueblo llano, sus frustraciones y sus placeres, Engineered and produced by Manuel Mohino zu Miniaturopern, die auf kritische und humorvolle desplegando un entero catálogo de inolvidables Executive producer: Carlos Céster Weise sowohl die Sorgen und Nöte als auch die caracteres tradicionales españoles. Freuden des Alltags wiedergaben, wie sie sich Design: Valentín Iglesias aus der Sicht einiger unvergesslicher spanischer Dirigiendo con mano experta El Concierto Booklet essay: Emilio Moreno Figuren darstellten. Español, Emilio Moreno consigue captar ese English Français Español Deutsch espíritu musical que encarnan mágicamente el Emilio Moreno leitet El Concierto Español und fandango, el zorongo, el caballo, el jopeo y, en fängt auf meisterliche Weise die Stimmung particular, la tirana: para asistir a ese baile dieses unvergleichlichen musikalischen Labyrinths saleroso y vivaz, verdaderas muchedumbres ein, das aus fandango, zorongo, caballo, jopeo invadieron los teatros, función tras función. Y und besonders der tirana bestand, jenem para culminar esta representación discográfica, energischen und lebhaften spanischen Tanz, der Moreno –impecable maestro de baile de hoy die Massen wieder und wieder in die día– propuso a los talentosos y versátiles Raquel Theatervorstellungen zog. Und unser moderner Andueza, Marta Infante, Juan Sancho et Jordi maestro de baile Moreno wird von den vielseitig Ricart asumir el papel de los pop stars de la talentierten Sängern Raquel Andueza, Marta España de la Ilustración. Infante, Juan Sancho und Jordi Ricart unterstützt, die die Rollen der Popstars der Aufklärungszeit 8 424562 20309 9 übernehmen. www.glossamusic.com An interview with Emilio Moreno

Did the tonadilla represent a form of reaction orchestras from the theatre companies. At the to the spread of foreign influences (musical same time they took part in the musical life of and non-musical) in Spain at the time? the court and in the churches and the cathedrals. The singers were veritable specialists in this Yes and no. In addition to being typically Spanish popular genre even if they also made also their in its form and structure (coplas, seguidillas, incursions into the “classical” repertory of Italian spoken parts or parolas and introductions made opera or religious music. They were idolized by up of courtly and more informal forms of dances, their audiences, arousing in them both passions the tonadilla evolved into a miniature Italian and belligerent behaviour – examples being the opera buffa complete with all the characteristic chorizos and the polacos, which were the groups elements of the latter. The tonadilla’s most potent of supporters of Maria Ladvenant and Mariana reaction against what was foreign lies in its texts: Alcázar respectively. Such groups passionately mockery of the absurd dandy, of the small-minded followed – like their modern counterparts do with “frenchified” character, of the irrational person pop singers – tonadilleros such as Mariana Raboso, who in a systematic way believes that what María Antonia Vellejo La Caramba, the great originates elsewhere is (automatically) better. Manuel García or Miguel Garrido. For this the tonadilla utilizes as its most powerful weapons the slang from the street, castanets, Does the tonadilla bear any similarities with the guitar, seguidillas, fandango and the tirana. genres active elsewhere in Europe?

Who were the tonadillas and tiranas aimed Not as such. To start with the tonadilla (and the at? word tonadilla is the diminutive form of tonada, that is to say, a song) consisted merely of a song The tonadilla was an especially populist genre inserted into an entr’acte, accompanied only by and aimed at the middle and working-classes in a guitar. Gradually this became more and more Madrid, although it was also cultivated in complex until by the beginning of the 19th century Barcelona, Sevilla, Cádiz, Valencia, México, Lima the tonadilla had become a genuine short opera If Spanish music from the Renaissance has and La Habana. Initially it shared house room in incorporating many characters, choruses and a become increasingly appreciated in recent the theatres with the entremeses (intermezzos) large orchestra. The “classical” tonadilla hardly decades that from the turn of the 19th century and entr'actes during the intervals of comedies ever runs to a full plot and does not involve many remains a blur for many. Not so for Emilio but by the end of the 18th century it had become characters (sometimes only one), although Moreno who – in addition to his musical expertise established so successfully that the public went generally the tonadillas for two or three characters in the Baroque and Classical, especially that to the theatres more for the tonadilla than for give more scope for the gossiping and the criticism gained through long association with the the play. It additionally found itself moving out that goes on. Such a tonadilla comes equipped Orchestra of the 18th Century – has become of the popular theatres and into the Palacio Real with a more or less fixed orchestral ensemble something of a specialist in the music of the (the collection of tonadillas kept in the royal and with a number of essentially worked-out Age of Enlightenment in Spain. Moreno has library there is outstanding) and aristocratic formal schemes: generally two movements been combining Herculean labours transcribing houses where a touch of working-class culture (coplas), followed by the almost obligatory final the scores of tonadillas from two centuries past was cultivated – that of Alba for example. The seguidillas. However, such works can become with bringing their populist texts and music to tirana is a dance form which, for a number of pieces of greater scope, like those on our recording. audiences of the 21st century – both with years around the end of the 18th century, became The difference with the Italian opera buffa or the singular success. Here he describes the nature the dance style par excellence favoured by the French vaudeville is that the plots are less of the dramatic genre that is the tonadilla and ordinary people of Spain. Ternary in form it is elaborated and there is a constant search of what the level of its original success acting as characterized by bustle and excitement. Many represents what is Spanish through the language barometer of the feelings of the ordinary people composers were entranced by its vigour, with as much as through the musical values (tiranas, in Spain, especially those of Madrid. “La Tirana” Boccherini writing one of the most sublime fandangos, zorongos, caballos, jopeos). of this CD’s title not only reflected a popular examples: the first movement of his quartet, Op dance style but also a stock character beloved 44/4 is subtitled La Tirana Española. What place do such works fit into music that by the audiences (the attempt to link the was being written in Spain at the time? character with an actress, María del Rosario Were the composers and performers of Fernández, who was immortalized in a painting tonadillas also successful in their own time? At times the Spanish Enlightenment was so by Francisco de Goya is, at best, fanciful). La profound yet at others so snobbish, that it Tirana’s counterpart Mambrú (also known as Their authors were composers who devoted sometimes failed to embrace a positive opinion Malbrú or Malbruc) personifies the people of themselves almost exclusively to the theatre about what was coming from the ordinary people. Madrid’s contempt for their French oppressors composing not only tonadillas but music for the An intellectual of the repute of Leandro Fernández at the beginning of the 19th century (they plays, autos sacramentales, fiestas or an infinite de Moratín used to loathe tonadillas because of weren’t too keen on the spread of Italian opera variety of bailes, pantomimes, melodramas, by- their shallowness (“foolish and scandalous”, he either. Here is the unexpurgated castizo spirit plays from the dense life of the Spanish theatre: said) whilst another, Tomás de Iriarte, praised of the Classical Age!) The canción de Mambrú Laserna, Esteve, Valledor, Misón, Moral, Guerrero, them for their freshness, appreciating the formal had its origins in a French comic song celebrating Marcolini, Galván, Rosales, all these are composers “Italianism” which was steadily taking shape – mistakenly as it turned out – the belief that and repertories still waiting to be rediscovered. within the form: in terms of the orchestra, handling the British general, the Duke of Marlborough Today we remain very little aware of how important of the voices, dramatic complexity, etc. At that (graffiteed on the front cover of this CD), had the music in the Spanish theatres of the 17th time many learned people were disgustedly died at the Battle of Malplaquet back in 1709 and 18th centuries was, music that was the bemoaning the excess of foreign music (above during the War of the Spanish Succession. equivalent to present day film soundtracks. The all the Italian) in Spain, but at the same time Emilio Moreno has, for a long time, been tonadilla set out to act as a reflection of the daily idolized Haydn and considered him to be the associated with the reappraisal of forgotten or nature of the ordinary people and by use of model to follow. The Spanish music of the ignored musical jewels from Spain’s past (and humour and a great deal of irony all the sorrows Enlightenment is very rich, much more than we is closely linked with Glossa’s own success in and joys, gossip and topical news were brought tend to think: there is opera seria and zarzuela, that area) and as a trenchant advocate of his to light and criticized through characters as symphonic, chamber, religious music…. The own country’s music is the ideal guide for this archetypal as majas, manolos, priests, soldiers, tonadilla forms only a small part of a much greater new exploration into the mysteries of that yokels, foreigners, dandies, prissy madames and whole waiting to be discovered. remarkable area of dramatic art, so unlike that provincial types such as Valencians, Catalans, from the rest of Europe but yet so much part Andalucians, Galicians, Creoles and Indians. The Mark Wiggins of it. composers were the great professionals of the © 2009 Glossa Music / MusiContact www.glossamusic.com