Los burladores (Sorozábal)

Teresa Berganza, Ana Higueras, Vicente Sardinero, Carlos Faoaga, Francisco Saura. Coro Cantores de Madrid, Orquesta Sinfónica, c. Pablo Sorozábal
Columbia CS 8509 [LP only, nla]

Sorozábal's full-length 1948 version of Tirso de Molina's original Don Juan play "The Tricksters" is amongst his most ambitious and musically substantial works. Its continued absence from the catalogue is a shameful oversight on BMG's part, especially when the performance under the composer's fiercely energised direction is so brilliantly successful. Sardinero plays Don Juan, given with a potent mixture of lyric grace - his perfect line in the lovely romanza "Queda flotando" stands out - and unbending Spanish aristocratic hauteur. He is matched by Berganza in both departments, the supporting cast is good (a special mention for the anonymous actor who plays a near-tragically drunken magistrate over a typically rich Sorozábalian melodrama underscore) and the recording clear and relatively detailed for this series. Copies of the LP are often spotted around the Rastro and other Madrid seond-hand outlets - they should be snapped up.

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