Sueño de Gloria (Damunt)

Maria Angeles Damunt, Raquel Pierotti, Ignacio Encinas, Alícia Ferrer, Antonio Comas. Orquesta Sinfónica c. José María Damunt
Bravo!Musix 7477

Is the zarzuela beyond resuscitation? Sueño de Gloria, recorded here for the first time, was performed in Valencia, Bilbao and Barcelona during 1975/6, so it is hardly recent. It centres on a flower stall on the Ramblas of Barcelona, the flower seller Carmen and her friends, relatives and lovers, all dreaming their "dreams of glory." The subject is love, naturally. The piece works pleasantly enough as easy listening, but hardly does more than offer a faintly scented ramble down memory lane. The singing is variously sweet, stalwart, distressing (a wobbly Pierotti) and distressed (Sgra. Damunt.) She unfortunately drains much of the interest from the substantial fillers, though the robust Encinas provides a degree of pleasure. The booklet is superb, with full texts in Spanish and English. Playing, conducting and recording are generally good, but this CD can only be strongly recommended to completists and masochists. I fear the answer to the question, at least on this evidence, is "Yes".

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