DANIELLE TALAMANTES

• Enrique Granados: Canciones amatorias - No lloréis, ojuelos

“Soprano Danielle Talamantes’s debut album is a pleasing and stylish collection… Partnered by pianist Henry Dehlinger, Talamantes has programmed an interesting and subtly nuanced recital... Talamantes possesses a velvety, dark-hued soprano that has a limpid seductiveness appropriate to this music. Her instrument is well placed and even throughout the registers; she produces a firm, centered tone that is especially haunting in its upper reaches... MSR notes that the audio format on this high-resolution CD has not been compressed, and urges listeners to play it on a high-quality system and to “turn it up.” The effect on mine was a warm, rounded naturalness that was most appealing.”

Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, Fanfare [July/August 2015]

“stands out from the crow for Henry Dehlinger's exquisite piano playing, the opportunity to hear Turina's Tres Arias, and the gorgeous MSR Classics recording... Talamantes shines radiantly, as if the composer had been writing specifically for her voice, and Dehlinger's vibrantly colorful palette instantaneously match her emotions without ever obscuring her vocal beauty. When Nana arrives, it becomes one of those audiophile experiences where every sound is captured in detail so naturally placed within its acoustic environment that it can serve as a touchstone for capturing musical excellence.”

Laurence Vittes, Gramophone [May 2015]

“...fine performances. Talamantes sings with great warmth and consistently even tone in her entire range; she is stylistically perfect and never indulgent. I like Dehlinger’s playing, too—strong and clear in every piece. These two aren’t afraid to take risks, either. Their performances are bold and deliberate... I’ve heard the Falla songs several times in the past year and this is by far the best... [they] were so exciting I barely recognized them, and this interpretation of ‘Nana’ felt new to me. Dare I say it? Talamantes’s vocal choices make the pieces sound somehow more Spanish... [Turina's] Three Arias are big, dramatic songs. Talamantes and Dehlinger are perfect; the music was practically leaping out of my speakers. An outstanding program. Excellent notes, texts, and translations (the latter by Dehlinger, incidentally).”

Heisel, American Record Guide [May/June 2015]

“...delicious piano playing and the deeply involved singing, slow with heavy rubato, almost improvisatory... Mira que soy niña...is sung with fine dynamic shading... Manuel de Falla’s Seven Spanish Folk Songs is well-known territory and I have to admit that Danielle Talamantes’ readings are competitive, even against the really great names. Her beautiful inward Asturiana is something to return to, as is the wild Jota and the caressing Nana... Talamantes certainly has that hard-to-define capacity to communicate with the listener. The support Henry Dehlinger provides at the piano further enhances this in no unimportant way. A disc to savour.”

Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International [April 2015]

“[ * * * * * ] From the very first second of the very first track, Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall soloist soprano Danielle Talamantes rips into a recital of some of Spain’s greatest composers with such daring and furiously emotive singing that you hold your breath at the exuberance and seat-of-your-pants vocal dexterity coming from the speakers. Usually it takes a while for recordings to begin to make their mark, but not in this case; Talamantes besieges us with such exquisite and excitingly idiomatic vocalizing that you leave the listening session in awe. There are not too many debut recordings where something like this can be said... Talamantes’s voice seems to emerge from the pages of the music as if it was her voice that Falla, Turina, and Granados were hearing when they first set ink to paper. The voice is effortless in presentation though I am sure it is not in execution, but the way she so grippingly grapples with this music, like it was all learned in the cradle, is simply electrifying... The music is hardly unknown to seasoned songsters; if you like art song you know these pieces well, and some of the greatest interpreters who ever lived have set them down. Talamantes gives no quarter to any of them, and in many respects tops them all. Pianist Henry Dehlinger has to be given a lot of credit for the total success of this album with his adroit and sparkling instrumental partnership. The brilliance and beautifully captured recording at the Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, Virginia supplies the perfect platform for these excellent readings. My only complaint is that I wish there were 20 more minutes—and there could have been. I am stunned. This is easily one of the best recordings of the year.”

Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition [December 2014]

“[ * * * * ] these works by Enrique Granados, Manuel de Falla and Joaquín Turina...are uniformly attractive in their handling both of the voice and of the piano… What is interesting about all the music on this disc is that, even in the absence of any visuals whatsoever, it makes it easy to envision Spanish scenes and Spanish landscapes, so vividly do the composers capture the mood of the words and so feelingly do Talamantes and Dehlinger brings the songs to life. The CD...offers much of beauty and a great deal of impressionistic music that allows and encourages listeners to envision the Spanish landscapes and culture from which these texts and settings sprang.”

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [December 2014]

“Danielle Talamantes belongs to a new generation of American singers characterized by solid training and impressively commanding technique... she is making her recording debut with an album of Spanish songs, which she performs with commendable skill, intelligence and artistry... her debut is striking, authoritative and decidedly attractive to hear... Henry Dehlinger, an experienced and versatile soloist, provides fine, superbly calibrated support throughout the program. His contribution as both a performer and a partner are a major component in the venture’s high quality.”

Charles Pope Jr., ConcertoNet [December 2014]

“Talamantes has the perfect voice for this recital – intelligent, well-modulated, and sensitive to all the emotions in a program of highly nuanced songs by three of Spain’s greatest composers”

Phil Muse, Audio Society of Atlanta [November 2014]

In nearly every discussion about Spanish music, we find that the composers represented in this splendid Talamantes and Dehlinger recording – Enrique Granados (1867-1916), Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), and Joaquin Turina (1882-1949) – are placed among Spain’s standard bearers of musical nationalism. While we might be tempted to suspect this is simply a convenient construct of today’s musicologists, we will find that these composers indeed saw one another in the same light...

Soprano Danielle Talamantes is an international recitalist who made her Carnegie Hall debut in a sold-out solo recital in 2007. Since then, she has sung as soprano soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Choralis, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Nashville Symphony, National Philharmonic Chorale & Orchestra, Oratorio Society of Virginia, Seoul Philharmonic, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Trujillo Symphony Orchestra of Peru, and The United States Army Band. Talamantes joined the Metropolitan Opera roster in 2011, covering the role of Najade in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. She was subsequently re-engaged to cover the role of the Flower Maiden in Wagner’s Parsifal, the soprano in the quartet of lovers in the Baroque
pastiche, The Enchanted Island, and most recently to perform in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten. In 2013, she made her debut as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème with the Capital City Symphony and performed the soprano lead in the world premiere production of Janice Hamer’s Lost Childhood with the National Philharmonic in Washington D.C. She was Soprano-in-Residence for the Summer 2012 Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, Vermont. Talamantes made her Lincoln Center Alice Tully debut in the 2013-14 season as the soprano soloist in Bob Chilcott’s Requiem, and she will make her stage debut in a return to the Metropolitan Opera in the 2014-2015 season as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen. Talamantes’ first place competition honors include the Irene Dalis Opera San Jose Competition, Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus Competition, XII Concurso de Trujillo, International Lotte Lehman Cybersing Competition, NATS Artist Award and Vocal Arts Society Discovery Series competition. [ www.DanielleTalamantes.com ]

Pianist Henry Dehlinger has distinguished himself on celebrated stages from the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center to the White House in Washington, D.C. and is widely acclaimed as a significant interpreter of Spanish classical piano. Born in San Francisco, Dehlinger started playing the piano at age six and singing at seven. His first music mentor was conductor and choirmaster Dr. William Ballard, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus, whom Dehlinger credits for his early success. By age ten, he was part of the Bay Area music scene, performing at the San Francisco Opera with operatic legends that include Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballé and
Georgio Tozzi. At twelve, he became a pupil of piano virtuoso Thomas LaRatta with whom he continues piano performance studies. A featured piano soloist with the United States Army Chorus and frequent guest performer on Washington’s Embassy Row, Dehlinger has also performed for numerous notable public officials, including the President of the United States and the Prince of Wales. Previously a technology entrepreneur, he released his first solo piano recording in 2011, Evocations of Spain, featuring Isaac Albéniz’s Iberia and Suite española, and Enrique Granados’ Goyescas, Danzas españolas, and Seis piezas sobre cantos populares españoles.
[ www.HenryDehlinger.com ] ENRIQUE GRANADOS (1867 – 1916)
LA MAJA Y EL RUISENOR from GOYESCAS

CANCIONES AMATORIAS
Mira que soy niña
Mañanica era
Serranas de Cuenca
Gracia mía
Descúbrase el pensamiento
Lloraba la niña
No lloréis, ojuelos

MANUEL DE FALLA (1876 – 1946)
SIETE CANCIONES POPULARES ESPAÑOLAS
El paño moruno
Seguidilla murciana
Asturiana
Jota
Nana
Canción
Polo

JOAQUÍN TURINA (1882 – 1949)
TRES ARIAS, OP.26
Romance
El Pescador
Rima



MSR Classics