El Retablo de Masse Pedro - da Falla

[ardcarp]

I happened upon this by chance on Radio 3 this afternoon. I was immediately struck by its instrumentation (wind plus harpsichord) and a musical style which at first I could not put my finger on. Why have I not heard it before? Well, apparently being such a short 'opera' (about 27mins) the difficulty of staging a puppet theatre plus needing a boy soloist to play a big role makes it a tricky one. (Though this afternoon a mezzo sang the part.)

It's available on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cuUvzKzqsY

....and very much worth reading about on Wiki. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_retablo_de_maese_Pedro

It was one of those many works commissioned by the Princess de Polignac. Da Falla wrote the music as 'incidental' music to Don Quixote and was clearly fascinated by Cervantes.

Reading the plot is a bit of a minefield (well it was for me anyway).

Anyone else know it?

[Pulcinella]

I happened upon this by chance on Radio 3 this afternoon. I was immediately struck by its instrumentation (wind plus harpsichord) and a musical style which at first I could not put my finger on. Why have I not heard it before? Well, apparently being such a short 'opera' (about 27mins) the difficulty of staging a puppet theatre plus needing a boy soloist to play a big role makes it a tricky one. (Though this afternoon a mezzo sang the part.)

It's available on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cuUvzKzqsY

....and very much worth reading about on Wiki. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_retablo_de_maese_Pedro

It was one of those many works commissioned by the Princess de Polignac. Da Falla wrote the music as 'incidental' music to Don Quixote and was clearly fascinated by Cervantes.

Reading the plot is a bit of a minefield (well it was for me anyway).

Anyone else know it?

Yes!
Fell in love with this performance conducted by Argenta on Decca Ace of Diamonds (which, apparently for contractual reasons, didn't make it into his box of Decca recording reissues on CD).

https://www.discogs.com/Falla-Ansermet-Argenta-LOrchestre-De-La-Suisse-Romande-National-Orchestra-Of-Spain-El-Amor-Brujo-El-/release/7539960

Though it did make it into another set, on Scribendum:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8697443--the-art-of-ataulfo-argenta

PS: Please could a host correct ardcarp's surely unintentional typo in the thread title? Thanks in anticipation.

[Pulcinella]

There are surprisingly few available recordings listed on the Presto site, but this Naxos one had good reviews, and is lined up for later listening:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/search?search_query=falla%20pedro%20naxos

I find the Rattle far too tame, and have a more earthy recording (on a 2CD Spanish EMI set), conducted by Pedro de Freitas Branco, that I much prefer.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lo-Mejor-Falla-Various-Artists/dp/B001LIMMRY

I too would like to hear a boy treble in the role of Trujaman, as I would as Ravel's enfant.
If we have can one as Miles in Britten's Turn of the screw, why not elsewhere?