Rosa la pantalonera (Alonso)

Mathilde Vázquez, Alfredo Muelas, Manuel Hernández, c. Francisco Alonso
Blue Moon BMCD 7511 [highlights]

Same details
Homokord HOM10357 [extracts]

Alonso's 1939 sainete lírico is a lightweight revista-style piece set in contemporary Madrid, which not surprisingly lacks the melodic punch of his pre-war successes. There's an amusing dúo comico which opens with a cheeky snatch of Cavaradossi's "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca and segues into Saint-Saens's Dance Macabre, whilst tenor Muelas and soprano Vázquez do their best with the lyric numbers.

The Homokord transfer, gentler on the ear than Blue Moon's brightly one-dimensional version has a glassy penumbra suggestive of over-processing. Choice may depend on the couplings, appropriately more Alonso on Blue Moon, some desirable extracts from La verbena de la Paloma on Homokord.

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