Search - Marin, Figueras, Lislevand :: Tonos Humanos

Deeply in debt

03/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We are indeed deeply in debt to Montserrat Figueras, Rolf Lislevand and company for this gem. From the liner notes, one gathers Senor Marin was quite a character: among other things, an ordained priest, a famous robber, a traveler to the New World, a singer and guitarist. The songs range from tender and passionate love to rousing ribaldry. Many of them are based on popular melodies and dance airs of the day.All are performed flawlessly. Montserrat Figueras has a spectacular voice. Pedro Estevan and Adela Gonzalez-Campa on percussions and castanettes provide punctuation, while Rolf Lislevand and Arianna Savall on guitar and harp give us accompanying melody and bass lines.When I was growing up, much of the vocal music of this age was rendered as lifeless relics of a distant past. Recordings like this one bring the music right back to life. It is easy, for example, to imagine _Mi Senora Mariantanos_ in a saucy Broadway production.Spanish music of the 17th century is full of delightful surprises. If you've not wandered there yet, here's a good place to start. If you have, here's another reason to extend your collection."

Wonderful...

John Willoughby | Amherst, MA | 10/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, OK, count me in with five stars.



I already knew that I liked Figueras' voice, and this album has very gentle accompanying backing music (mostly just the wonderful guitar of Lislevand) which allows the vocal to come firmly to the fore. Figueras gives her voice an edge in some of the songs, and there is a passion to the pieces and some interesting melody lines that I'm struggling to find a word for.. maybe 'jagged' or, better, 'twisting'.



This really doesn't seem to be music that I can listen to in the background, despite the relatively gentle sound - that striking voice keeps doing interesting things that pull my attention back. Recommended !"