Search - Manuel de Falla, Josep Pons, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada :: Manuel de Falla: La Vida Breve - Inmaculada Egido / Mabel Perelstein / Antonio Ordoñez / Cor de Valencia / Orquesta Ciudad de Granada / Josep Pons

De Falla's early but powerful opera tells a classic tale of betrayal: Paco woos the Gypsy girl Salud but marries Carmela, a girl of his own class. Salud, accompanied by members of her family, interrupts the wedding, turns Carmela off Paco by her passionate denunciation of him, and then dies of mortification. The composer weaves this melodrama into a musical fabric that includes two colorful Spanish dances, flamenco singing, and broodingly effective choruses of Gypsy workmen The performance is surprisingly bland: Egido (Salud) is dramatic but has a tendency to screech, Ordoñez (Paco) is colorless, and the orchestral playing is listless. The balances are unsteady, with the instruments often covering the singers. López-Cobos and his Cincinnati forces offer a much better performance. --Paul Turok