Tonos Humanos [Import]

Marin (Artist), Figueras (Artist), Lislevand (Artist), Estavan (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 1998)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Alia Vox Spain
• ASIN: B000024BO8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,333 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply in debt, March 3, 1999

By A Customer

We are indeed deeply in debt to Montserrat Figueras, Rolf Lislevand and company for this gem. From the liner notes, one gathers Senor Marin was quite a character: among other things, an ordained priest, a famous robber, a traveler to the New World, a singer and guitarist. The songs range from tender and passionate love to rousing ribaldry. Many of them are based on popular melodies and dance airs of the day.

All are performed flawlessly. Montserrat Figueras has a spectacular voice. Pedro Estevan and Adela Gonzalez-Campa on percussions and castanettes provide punctuation, while Rolf Lislevand and Arianna Savall on guitar and harp give us accompanying melody and bass lines.

When I was growing up, much of the vocal music of this age was rendered as lifeless relics of a distant past. Recordings like this one bring the music right back to life. It is easy, for example, to imagine _Mi Senora Mariantanos_ in a saucy Broadway production.

Spanish music of the 17th century is full of delightful surprises. If you've not wandered there yet, here's a good place to start. If you have, here's another reason to extend your collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overpowering Experience of Fiery, Passionate Spanish Song, December 21, 2007

By 

Leslie Richford (Selsingen, Lower Saxony) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tonos Humanos (Audio CD)

José Marín (1618 - 1699): Tonos Humanos. Performed by Montserrat Figueras, soprano; Rolf Lislevand, baroque guitar; Arianna Savall, double harp; Pedro Estevan, percussion; Adela Gonzalez-Campa, castagnettes. Recorded in March and June 1997 at the studio of the Tibor Vargas Foundation in Sion/Switzerland. Total playing time: 67'03". Released in 1998 as Alia Vox AV 9802. Digipack with 44-page booklet in five languages.

When this CD was first released in 1998, it was greeted with acclaim by critics and was accorded "recommended" status by the magazine "Klassik heute". Hagen Kunze wrote: It is "Montserrat Figueras [who] makes this CD an overpowering experience, she performs with the passion of a Flamenco-Cantaora. I only know one comparison for this grandiose artiste: she is the Maria Callas of early music - unique like her, she combines a maximum of singing perfection with extreme intensity of expression". Even a casual listening will confirm this opinion. Marin's fiery songs about unrequited love here take on a life of their own in Montserrat Figueras's absolutely idiomatic interpretation, which manages to combine the individuality of these songs with the Spanish tradition in such a way as to make them instantly recognizable but, at the same time, fascinatingly novel. The accompaniment of guitar, harp, castagnettes and percussion is done with exquisite taste and just the right feeling for this music (and I hadn't realized before what a wonderful sound can be produced by combining guitar and harp); Pedro Estevan is an amazing percussionist and his unobtrusive arrangements are "just right". The Alia Vox recording is excellent, placing Montserrat Figueras firmly in the forefront but allowing every detail of the accompaniment to be heard.

A footnote for those who don't know: José Marin was one of the leading musical figures in Madrid during the second half of the seventeenth century. Although he stood in the employ of the King of Spain, he led an adventurer's life, being accused several times of murder and being sentenced to service in the galleys. Despite all this, his reputation as a musician remained unsullied and on his death he was praised as "exemplary"!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful..., October 23, 2006

By 

John Willoughby "Zebrafish Mutant" (Amherst, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tonos Humanos (Audio CD)

Yes, OK, count me in with five stars.

I already knew that I liked Figueras' voice, and this album has very gentle accompanying backing music (mostly just the wonderful guitar of Lislevand) which allows the vocal to come firmly to the fore. Figueras gives her voice an edge in some of the songs, and there is a passion to the pieces and some interesting melody lines that I'm struggling to find a word for.. maybe 'jagged' or, better, 'twisting'.

This really doesn't seem to be music that I can listen to in the background, despite the relatively gentle sound - that striking voice keeps doing interesting things that pull my attention back. Recommended !