Search - Chavela Vargas :: En Carnegie Hall

Her voice completely gone on this album.

JK Oregon | California, USA | 02/08/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is really only for collectors who want to hear this particular concert. However, be prepared, Chavela's wonderful voice is not to be found on this album. All the songs are familiar, but the voice isn't. Her voice cracks constantly, forcing her at times to speak the words rather than sing them and to remake the song to avoid the difficult notes. The crowd is boisterous too often calling out to her in the middle of a song-- which makes the CD hard even harder to listen to.



You would not give this CD to introduce him to Chavela. There are much better albums for that: the hard to find "Volver, Volver" being the one that most springs to mind. As I mentioned previously, this CD is only for collectors who feel they must have every last album of hers. If you think you're one of them, I'd still suggest that you try to find a site where you can download and listen to a track before committing to this album."

Emotional

martin ch. | 06/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This a great recording of a deeply moving performance. Chavela's voice might not be as sweet as it was in her youth but, as Jon Pareles of the New York Times said: "She has traded the illusion of youthful innocence for a galvanizing sense of drama. Each line of each song was a poised surge of emotion. She growled or sighed the word ''amor''; she could sound tearful, furious, desolate.". The raw energy captured in this concert is definitively worth getting it, even if just for the chance to listen to her beautiful interpretation of "Las Simples Cosas" and the contained tension of "La LLorona"."