Volume four of Marston’s chronological Supervia series
takes us from May 1932 to May 1933, though one should note the
out-of-sequence July 1930 items, ones that turned up only recently,
added as an appendix (see reviews of
Volume
2 and
Volume
3).
The repertoire is overwhelmingly light: songs, Boleros, traditional
items - Habañeras, Zortzicos and Sardanas, as well as
the occasional Pasodoble and their near cousins. It makes for
light listening too - no Mahlerian angst disturbs the proceedings
- but as ever with Supervia, the delights may be airy but they
are still delightful.
With a chamber orchestra (and accordion) she essays
Capa española with
delicious vitality. Her flirty, flighty indeed feisty side responds
well to
La buenaventura which she seduces with her extravagantly
rolled ‘r’, her wonderful parlando and sheer brio.
The quality of bringing things to life was a constant of her
singing, but even so a double album of predominately jaunty popular
songs might be thought too much. Indeed you’ll need to
break things up to savour the full complement of her expressive
arsenal deployed to make these pieces so lively and delightful
a body of performances. The hazy flamenco element of the
Romance
de Solita, a ballet piece, is for instance laced with jaunty
trumpet accompaniment. The smiling verve of
La del puñuelo
rojo is a tonic. Castanets jiggle through
Suspiros de
España. We also have the recordings she made with
the Serramont Accordion Orchestra, a lively and colouristic band,
with a perky bass clarinet, trumpet à-la-staccato and
an on-the-ball percussionist. We have a soupy fiddle player in
an anonymously backed
La rosa oriental. The orchestrations
are not always subtle but they are invariably succulent.
The October 1932 sessions offered some greater opportunities
for fulsome expression. She evinces great charm and femininity
here, as well as her formidable coloratura in the piece from
El
Juramento which has its melancholy vistas.
There are sequences with the pianist Pedro Vallribera. Their
performances of the traditional songs arranged by Nin are vibrant,
though the Rodrigo song they essay,
Cantiga, is a harmonic
cut above its companions. Frank Marshall, a stellar exponent
of the Iberian muse, is the other pianist involved. Together
he and Supervia perform Granados’s Tonadillas, seven brief
but evocative infusions of Spanish tracery. They all fitted onto
two sides of a 78, which was happily economical. Note in passing
the rallentando in
Callejeo, the fluttering delicacy of
their
La maja dolorosa, and Marshall’s witty playing
in
El majo timído. These are the most important
items in this set.
But there is also a fascinating curio; Lehár sung in French.
Frasquita was
recorded in a French version by Eddy and Marietti, in Paris,
in May 1933. Supervia was partnered by the French tenor Louis
Arnoult, and the Paris Opéra-Comique Orchestra was conducted
by Paul Bastide. The results were captured on five 78s, and attest
to the allure Supervia evoked across a wide repertoirial range.
There’s the radiant brio of her ‘la-la’ in
Ce
que c’est que l’amour no less than her entrance
scene. Arnoult has an ingratiating style and a decent head voice,
often transposing down a semi-tone.
Throughout the two discs vitality and élan are never in
short supply. The long booklet note is culled from the writing
of, and a talk given by, the pianist Ivor Newton, who knew her
well. The booklet is fully up to the expected, exemplary standard,
and the transfers equally so.
Jonathan Woolf
Complete Tracklist
CD 1 [79:16]
SPANISH ODEON, BARCELONA
23 MAY 1932
1. Capa española (Francisco Cotarelo; Emilio Pisón)
3:27
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
(SO7706) 184296
2. La buenaventura (Ignacio Tabuyo; F. Moya Rico and J. Colorado)
3:24
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
(SO7707) 184286
3. LA ROMERÍA DE LOS CORNUDOS (ballet) : Romance de Solita
(Gustavo
Pittaluga; Cipriano Rivas Cheriff) 2:54
With orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Pittaluga
(SO7708) 184296
4. Lola la Manola de Escayola (Francisco Cotarelo; Emilio Pisón)
3:29
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
(SO7709) 184303
25 MAY 1932
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
5. El amor es como un niño (Traditional; Arranged by Joaquín
Nin) 1:37
(SO7714) 184345
6. Jota valenciana (Traditional; Arranged by Joaquín Nin)
1:29
(SO7714) 184345
7. Canción gallega, No. 1 (Traditional; Arranged by Joaquín
Nin) 2:47
(SO7715) 184329
8. Cantiga (Canción antigua) (Joaquín Rodrigo;
Marqués de Santillana) 2:53
(SO7716) 184329
27 MAY 1932
With orchestra, conducted By Pascual Godes
9. El pañuelo de lunares (Francisco Alonso; S. and J. Álvarez
Quintero) 3:08
(SO7717) 184303
10. La del pañuelo rojo (Zortzico) (Traditional; Arranged
by Ignacio
Tabuyo) 3:29
(SO7718) 184345
11. Consejos (Habanera) (F. M. Álvarez; Eusebio Blasco)
3:13
(SO7719) 184294
28 MAY 1932
12. Rubores (Pasodoble) (Pascual Marquina; A. Corral Moraleda)
2:30
With band
(SO7722) 184289
13. Suspiros de España (Pasodoble) (A. Álvarez
Alonso; Felipe Ferrer) 3:24
With band
(SO7723) 184289
14. Java apache (Java musette) (Pascual Godes; Felipe Ferrer)
3:29
With the Serramont Accordion Orchestra
(SO7724) 184294
15. Bésame (Habanera) (Pascual Godes; Felipe Ferrer) 3:33
With the Serramont Accordion Orchestra
(SO7725) 184294
3 JUNE 1932
16. Les fulles seques (Sardana) (Enrique Morera; Ángel
Guimerá) 3:06
With orchestra, Cobla Barcelona “Albert Marti”
(SO7733) 184289
17. Llevantina (Sardana) (Vicente Bou; R. Libera and J. Serracant)
2:38
With orchestra, Cobla Barcelona “Albert Marti”
(SO7734) 184289
18. Melodía (Vocal arrangement of Melody in F, op. 3 no.
1) (Anton
Rubinstein; T. Ramos Fernando) 3:10
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
(SO7735) 184333
19. L’ángel de la son (Juan Lamote de Grignon; Apeles
Mestres) 2:57
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
(SO7736) 184301
27 OCTOBER 1932
With orchestra
20. La rosa oriental (Bolero) (Ramón Espigul) 2:41
(SO7882) 185012
21. Lamento borincano (Song in Cuban style) (Rafael Hernández;
Arranged by
Brito) 3:21
(SO7883) 247
28 OCTOBER 1932
22. Moreno es el bien que adoro (Vicente Romero; Fidel Prado)
3:12
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
(SO7884) 184339
23. Sentir gitano (Tomás de Aquino; V. Moro and L. Muñoz
Arenillas) 3:34
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
(SO7885) 184339
24. Las meninas (Canción de la guitarra) (F. Diaz Giles;
Lucio and
Capella) 3:24
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
(SO7886) 184313
25. Un barberillo alegre (J. L. Mediavilla; Fidel Prado) 3:13
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
(SO7887) 184313
30 OCTOBER 1932
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
26. Flor del terruño (Canción Castellana) (R. Martinez
Valls; Felipe
Ferrer) 3:32
(SO7890) 184325
CD 2 (78:00)
30 OCTOBER 1932 (continued)
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
CD 2 [78:00]
1. Canción de antaño (R. Martinez Valls; Felipe
Ferrer) 3:43
(SO7891) 184325
2. Hay en mi jardín (Lizcano de la Rosa; M. Poal Aragall)
3:32
(SO7892) 184333
31 OCTOBER 1932
With orchestra, conducted by Pascual Godes
3. EL JURAMENTO: ¡Ay! yo me ví en el mundo desamparada
(J. Gaztambide; D.
L. Olona) 3:25
(SO7893) 184326
4. LA TEMPRANICA: Sierras de Granada (Jerónimo Giménez;
Julián Romea) 3:36
(SO7894) 184326
5. EL MAL DE AMORES: Canción de la gitanita (José Serrano;
S. and J.
Á
lvarez Quintero) 2:34
(SO7895) 184305
6. LA ALEGRÍA DEL BATALLÓN: A una gitana preciosa
[Dolores’s Gypsy Song]
(José Serrano; Arniches & Quintana) 2:56
(SO7896) 184305
1 NOVEMBER 1932
With piano, Frank Marshall
TONADILLAS (Enrique Granados; Fernando Periquet)
7. Las currutacas modestas 1:21
(SO7897) 184335
8. Callejeo 1:29
(SO7897) 184335
9. La maja dolorosa3:08
(SO7898) 184335
10. Amor y odio2:22
(SO7899) 184336
11. El tra-la-la y el punteado1:08
(SO7899) 184336
12. El majo discreto1:44
(SO7900) 184336
13. El majo tímido1:03
(SO7900) 184336
4 NOVEMBER 1932
With piano, Pedro Vallribera
14. Pandereta andaluza (Esteban Fuste; Justino Ochoa) 2:21
(SO7903) 184315
15. Hojas muertas (Charles Maduro; José Mojica) 2:29
(SO7904) unpublished on 78 rpm
FRENCH ULTRAPHONE, PARIS
MAY 1933
With the Paris Opéra-Comique Orchestra, conducted by Paul
Bastide
FRASQUITA (Franz Lehár; French version by M. Eddy and
J. Marietti)
16. Qui a dit “Voleurs”? [Frasquita’s entrance]3:11
(P76392) AP1020 transposed down a semi-tone
17. Deux yeux très doux3:23
Louis Arnoult, tenor solo
(P76394) AP1021
18. Ce que c’est que l’amour3:06
(P76393) AP1020 transposed down a semi-tone
19. J’ai ma jeunesse ensoleillée … C’est
là qu’est écrit mon secret [Act 1
Finale]6:17
With Louis Arnoult, tenor
(P76398/99) AP1022 transposed down a semi-tone
20. Il y avait une fois [Couplets de la cigarrière]4:36
(P80127) EP1024 transposed down a semi-tone
21. Quand un coeur veut parler le langage d’amour3:37
With Louis Arnoult, tenor
(P76400) AP1023 transposed downa semi-tone
22. Ne t’aurais-je qu’une fois3:42
Louis Arnoult, tenor solo
(P76395) AP1021
23. Le beau rêve est fini3:38
Louis Arnoult, tenor solo
(P76401) AP1023
MAY 1933
With guitar, A. Cuenco
24. Tengo dos lunares (Valverde; traditional) 1:53
Note: Supervia interpolated this song into Act 2 of FRASQUITA
(P80128z) EP1024
25. Los ojos negros (Barta; traditional) 2:04
(P80128z) EP1024
APPENDIX
The following two sides were recently located and are included
here out of
chronological sequence.
FRENCH ODEON, PARIS
5 JULY 1930
With orchestra, conducted By Gustave Cloëz
26. Cançó de passar cantant (Eduardo Toldrá;
José M. de Sagarra) 2:49
(Ki 3513) 184191
27. Cançó de l’oblit (Eduardo Toldrá;
Tomas Garcés) 2:38
(Ki 3515) 184191
CD 1:
Languages: Spanish [1-6, 8, 10-15, 18, 20-26]; Galician [7];
Andalusian
[9]; Catalan [16-17, 19]
CD 2:
Languages: Spanish [1-13, 15, 24-25]; Andalusian [14]; French
[16-23];
Catalan [26-27]
Conchita Supervia
(soprano) 
