Manuel de Falla's two famous ballets, El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) and El amor brujo (Love, the Magician), are arguably the most famous pieces of Spanish orchestral music, and, really, two of the most beloved orchestral pieces of the twentieth century. Falla took the mix of colorful orchestration, harmonic adventure, and musical folklore that was brewing early in the century and transplanted it to Spanish soils in deft, colorful patterns that anyone who goes to a concert can appreciate. These works have been recorded hundreds of times, but this disc by the Asturias Symphony Orchestra under
Maximiano Valdés is worth considering -- the list of Super Audio CD releases is shorter, and Falla's complex percussion nets, with Spanish dances interwoven in obvious and not-so-obvious ways, reveal new layers in a good audiophile recording. There may be recordings in which Falla's high violin writing has a greater sheen, in which the brass blares more sharply and the castanets crackle more clearly, but the orchestra approaches the music with the requisite confidence and authority, and this is a fine SACD recording at a budget price. A special pleasure is the presence of the Argentine-born mezzo-soprano Alicia Nafé. El amor brujo is performed in its 1924 revision.