Ann Liebeck, the widely acclaimed opera soprano, gave us an hour of delightful songs, all in Spanish, from Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba. Accompanying her on the piano was Inverness born Dr Guy Newbury who is Senior Lecturer in Music at Pembroke College, Oxford. It was he who provided us with the translations to English at the outset.
We heard firstly from Spain the three of the cartoon sets of Granados's Tonadillas: flirtatious, lightly comic and then tragic. Already it was clear that Ann Liebeck had a confident and powerful voice - a delight to enjoy. Rodrigo drew inspiration from 16th-century songs and their texts. Manuel de Falla's Seven Spanish Folksongs are said to be the most frequently performed songs in the entire Spanish repertory.
From Argentina and Alberto Ginastera for Five Argentine Folksongs from 1943 taken from folk music. Across to Brazil and Villa Lobos The programme ended with two of Lecuona's zarzuelas. The much loved short encore came from Villa Lobos.
The hour passed so quickly - a great concert.
Concert: Monday 11th August 2014 at 4.30pm