Manuel de Falla : El retablo de maese Pedro, puppet opera in one act (1919-23)

[@maxmerry8470]

It's been a long, long time since I last heard this. Indeed, I think I'd forgotten how absolutely wonderful it is! The orchestration is magnificent and the voices suitably idiomatic.... Fantastica!!!

[@RoddersClassical]

Max, have a listen to this (if you haven't heard it before) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZfNeZt8gc-pqqc

[@ChrisBreemer]

This has to be my all-time favorite Spanish work. Endlessly captivating, Falla at his most original. But it’s not easy to bring off convincingly. This performance is decent enough, clear and precise, but very operatic and maddeningly laid-back, slowish, soft-focused and distant. The voices would seem more in place in a Bellini opera, and especially the plush and cultivated soprano completely misses the point that this is a boy narrator. I swear by Dutoit’s performance, elsewhere on YT with a great puppet and pantomime show to boot, crisp and incisive with a much fuller sound. I think this piece benefits by a more direct sound than you’d want for an opera of symphony. Dutoit’s breathless and slightly wavering boy soprano (even though I don’t usually like the sound of boy sopranos) is just perfect here, giving the piece that special endearing quality I think Falla must have been after. Dutoit’s earlier version on Apex (remastered from Erato) is great too. Alas not with a boy soprano, but she does a very decent job of sounding like one and her enunciation is much crisper than here. I think this piece will always come off best with native Spanish speakers.