LA BELLA HABANA BY CAMERATA ROMEU
The all women players of Camerata Romeu with Zenaida Romeo
La Bella Habana is the vibrant music to lift us off the sofa of solitutde and put a spring in our step – nine all too brief pieces to stir the soul and banish Anglo Saxon torpor. They exude the Cuban love of life.
The moment the music begins, it is mysteriously clear that the players, all on string instruments, are young Like their creative cousins in Venezuela the now world famous El Sistema, this orchestra springs with the energy of musicians on the brink of their careers.
And it reflects the unique culture of Cuba’s 500 year old history. These are not specifically ‘Habaneros’ melodies from the Cuban capital, but music from all over the Americas. The first track ‘La Bella Cubana ‘ by José White, is an anthem for the grace of Cuban women . As it swings gently into action, it breathes rhythm into the muse of the Latin genre . Like the Girl from Ipanema, La Bella Cubana has her own memorable lilt – aptly enough as the entire orchestra is composed of young Cuban women lead by their accomplished conductor the much-lauded Zenaida Romeu.
The album cover picture says it all. Twenty or so string players stand by the shore, Havana in the near distance; the reverse cover has them look seaward , violins, cellos and double basses at their backs to create a feminine embodiment of autonomous instruments in the style of Picasso.
The music is truly the sound of the Americas, from the 1920s to the present day. Borrowed from Brazil, Mexico and Argentina it represents a daring joyous trope of composition. There is the erotic tango of Piazzaolla in Libertango – a fast -paced brilliant flash of sustained energy and a graceful piece Canambu by Eduardo Gamboa ( a graduate of London’s Trinity College of Music).
He is a composer with a stunning catalogue of music for cinema, and this lyrical violin- led piece evokes the romance of a ballroom, beginning the Beguine in true Cole Porter 30s style.
The very next track is so different . From a maestro of Cuban music, Guido López-Gavilán it layers a Latin gloss over the European traditional formula –t o amazing effect. Apparently there is a whole week dedicated to Guido López-Gavilán in Old Havana (I am mentally booking my ticket already) but this work, his Camerata in Guagunco has to do for now.
Final Obgligado is a wonderful piece; it appears so movingly , a sad addition in the sequence of upbeat numbers . Indeed the composer died in 2002. Carlos Fariñas was a Cuban He was one of the most important masters of the Cuban avant-garde in the 1960s along with Leo Brouwer and Juan Blanco. His work is nuanced but unmistakably Havana-based.
This disc is varied. By the end of it you are ready to hear it all over again. I have stress- tested it over a week of both quiet listening and background dinner music (conversation is bound to flag sooner or later, and Bella Habana is a soothing filler). It has been the inspiration to dance (solo so far but you never know?) around the living room - with the fantasy of a colourful Cuban nightclub brilliantly evoked by this wonderfully talented band .
But once the impact of the sheer versatility of these performers sinks in, any listener will find they are fervent converts to the less well-known music of the Americas. Whole creative careers have blazed and faded there without much of a nod from us, the staid stand offish Europeans. I want to begin a pilgrimaeg of exploration in homage to these brilliant composers (I shall of course shall have completed my online course ‘It’s Never too Late to learn Spanish' by then). These musicians display an originality alongside their spirited contact with the culture of the Americas. It would be a shame to let the names of Carlos Farinas , Eduardo Gomboa ( at least watch The Mask of Zorro in appreciation of his cine talent ) Jose White and Guido López-Gavilán fade in music memory. In fact, powered by this new generation of spirited women players, I predict a new celebrity for these delightful pieces .
La Bella Habana by Camerata Romeu - Newly available from Naxos
