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Notes and Editorial Reviews
DUETS WITH SPANISH GUITAR
•
Laurindo Almeida (gtr); Salli Terri (mez); Martin Ruderman (fl)
•
EMI ANGEL STUDIO CDM-7 63256 2, partly mono (55:41)
IBERT
Entr’acte.
VILLA-LOBOS
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5:
Aria.
DESPORTES
Ronde. Pastorale Joyeuse.
OVALLE
Azulão. 3
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Pontos de Santo. Modinha.
CHOPIN
Prelude in e.
ALMEIDA
O Caçador.
GOSSEC
Tambourin.
HENRIQUE
Boi-Bumbá.
FAURÉ
Sicilienne.
BARBOSA
Para niñar.
RAVEL
Pièce en forme de habanera. Pavane pour une Infante défunte.
BRAGA
Maracatú.
MIGNONE
Passarinho está cantando.
TCHAIKOVSKY
Serenade for Strings: Waltz.
FALLA
7 canciónes populares españolas:
Canción.
The Three-Cornered Hat:
Farruca
I bought
Duets with Spanish Guitar
on cassette in the late 1970s, and even then it was almost two decades old. (This explains, at least in part, why it is not in stereo.) I think I loved it immediately, and I am pleased that it remains in EMI’s catalog late (or so we are led to believe) in the CD era.
I don’t know if flutist Martin Ruderman is still alive, but Laurindo Almeida died in 1995 and Salli Terri died a year later. Almeida was a highly versatile Brazilian guitarist who was born in 1917. He played with Stan Kenton, became associated with the bossa nova, recorded fine albums with the Modern Jazz Quartet and Sammy Davis Jr. (to name just two), and also recorded classical and semi-classical music, which is the category into which the present CD falls. Salli Terri was born in Ontario in 1922, and her professional duties included work with the Roger Wagner Chorale. (The Wikipedia entry devoted to her indicates that she did the voice-over for the cow in Walt Disney’s film version of
Mary Poppins
, but I assure you that she was not at all bovine in appearance!)
The album’s concept is that Almeida plays on all tracks, and that Terri and Ruderman take turns accompanying him. It was released by Capitol and (at least in the U.S.) reissued on Angel. When it was reissued in 1990 as a CD, EMI added six duets from later albums including
Reveries
(a Capitol album on which Almeida plays duets with himself) and
Duets with Spanish Guitar, Album 3
. These follow a similar format.
Passarinho está cantando
and
Modinha
are the exceptions: They are trios for all three musicians.
Terri was nominated for a Grammy in 1958 for her singing on the original
Duets with Spanish Guitar
. (She lost to Leontyne Price, I believe.) The album did win a Grammy for engineering, which I don’t quite understand, but maybe I need to go back to the original Capitol pressing to appreciate it. Villa-Lobos supposedly thought Terri’s version of the
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
(Aria only, unfortunately) was the best. (Better than Bidú Sayão’s?) We don’t have to agree with him, but it’s hard not to fall under Terri’s spell. In her duets with Almeida, she balances her classical training with a pop or folk singer’s feel for intimacy and communication. If Joan Baez had studied at Juilliard, she might have sounded a lot like Terri. My only negative observation is that her Portuguese does not sound terribly idiomatic.
No matter what type of music he played, Almeida was a class act, with a sweet but never sticky sound. Even his arrangements of music by Chopin and Ravel are in the best of taste. One never feels that he was a jazz musician “crossing over.” Instead, he was a total musician, and he deserves the following that he retains today.
Ruderman’s name appears on many albums from this period, but I can’t find any biographical information about him. His dynamic style ensures that he doesn’t fade into the background in his duets with Almeida. Like Almeida, his musicianship is ingratiating but not prettified. Later, Almeida would rerecord some of these selections with flutist Bud Shank, yet it is Ruderman who shows the greater personality.
Duets with Spanish Guitar
demonstrates that pretty need not mean dumb, and that relaxation does not depend on turning off one’s brain. This might be ear candy, but it is candy that appeals to adult palates. Imagine yourself sitting on a quiet pier in California as the sun is setting. Someone you love is by your side and you are filled with a sense of well-being and happiness. A little corny? Perhaps, but how satisfying it is! That is the essence of
Duets with Spanish Guitar.
FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle
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Works on This Recording
2.
Pièce en forme de Habañera by Maurice Ravel
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Martin Ruderman (Flute)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1907; France
3.
Para niñar by Joaquim Barroso Neto
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
5.
Entr'acte by Jacques Ibert
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Martin Ruderman (Flute)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1937; France
Notes: Ver: 1st (the original scoring, for flute and guitar)
6.
Ronde by Yvonne Desportes
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Martin Ruderman (Flute)
Period: 20th Century
Written: France
7.
Pastorale joyeuse by Yvonne Desportes
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Martin Ruderman (Flute)
Period: 20th Century
Written: France
8.
Azulao by Jaime Ovalle
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
9.
Pontos (3) de Santo, Op. 10 by Jaime Ovalle
Performer:
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano),
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
11.
O Caçador by Laurindo Almeida
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
13.
Boi-Bumbá by Valdemar Henrique
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
15.
Passarinho está cantando by Francisco Mignone
Performer:
Martin Ruderman (Flute),
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
17.
Canciones populares españolas (7) by Manuel de Falla
Performer:
Laurindo Almeida (Guitar),
Salli Terri (Mezzo Soprano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1914-1915; Spain
Language: Spanish
Sound Samples
Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 - Aria
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No 4
Piece en forme de habanera
Waltz from the Serenade for Strings
Cancion from Siete canciones populares espanoles
Farruca from The Three-Cornered Hat
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 2 Customer Reviews )
Sorry, 10 stars were not available -- so this get July 26, 2013
By Robert H B. (Victoria, BC) See All My Reviews
"This is one of the best recordings ever made. Laurindo Almeida is tops as a classical guitarist, and Salli Terri provides a perfect vocal complement. Your most critical friends will thoroughly enjoy this CD. Please note that there are two more CDs in the series."
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Clyde Gilmour fans will remember this one March 7, 2013
By R. Jackson (Ottawa, Ontario) See All My Reviews
"A delightful collection that has stood the test of time. Salli Terri singing Azulao will forever be the definitive rendition of this lovely melody for us, although Canadian Isabel Bayrakdarian's version is also very beautiful."
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