Feria Magica Overture; Sinfonietta Flamenca – The Louisville
Orchestra/Robert Whitney, Jorge Mester – First Edition Music FECD-0039,
55:43 ****:
This recent addition to the latest incarnation of the acclaimed
Louisville Orchestra series of recordings brings collectors four world
premiere recordings, two of them also being Louisville Orchestra
commissions. The orchestra began its legendary series of recordings by
composers of our time back in 1948. Some of the early LPs were
far from the best fidelity, but this new CD series has remastered the
original tapes and the sonic quality is improved over even those which
previously appeared in CD versions.
Surinach, who lived until 1997, hailed from Barcelona. He conducted the
Orquesta Filarmonica there and later the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris,
establishing his reputation as both conductor and composer. Much of his
output was dance scores for such performers as Martha Graham and the
The Joffrey Ballet. Spanish popular and folk music is a clear influence
on Surinach’s work, but he has a highly original take on the genre
which avoids any tendencies toward clichés. The original recordings
date from l954 thru l967, so two of them are mono only. Both the
Symphonic Variations and the Sinfonietta Flamenca are imbued in the
dramatic dance style derived from Flamenco. The first work has some
12-tone elements and the second is more intense in communicating the
strong emotions of the Flamenco style of southern Spain. Dramatic
emotions are also found in the Melorhythmic Dramas of 1966.
– John Sunier
