Manuel de Falla
- “Nights in the Gardens of Spain”
This is a wonderful DVD, both for video and for musical performance. Manuel de Falla’s “Nights in the Garden of Spain” is an emotion-filled piano piece with orchestra, full of Spanish harmonies and rhythms.
Alicia de Larrocha plays the piano part in an amazing way, while Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra accompany her flawlessly. Occasionally the camera moves from the performers to Spain’s famous El Hambra, a beautiful Moorish palace, whose gardens inspired the composer to write this music.
I found that the use of scenery enhanced my experience of listening to this music. To me. the transition from scenery to the orchestra and vice versa was quite smooth, beautiful, and effective.
Here is the late Alicia de Larrocha, performing “Nights in the Gardens of Spain”:
And next, here is Daniel Barenboim, piano, performing Manuel de Falla’s “Nights in Spanish Gardens”, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
1. In the Generalife
2. Distant dance
3. In the Gardens of the Sierra de Córdoba:
Tags: Manuel de Falla, Alicia de Larrocha, Nights in the Gardens of Spain