Alcantaramanuel

On Mayte Mart­n s stellar new recording alCANTARaMANUEL, the Barcelona-born singer-composer delves into the poetry of Manuel Alc¡ntara (born 1928, in M¡laga, Andalusia). The idea sprung out of my complete affinity with the lyricism and intimate character of his poems, she confides, I chose the ones which touched me the most, allowing each to inhabit the soundscape I felt was natural
and appropriate. Even as Mart­n s sensitive musical accompaniments move Alc¡ntara s imagery into another dimension, her dulce de leche alto, a sinuous instrument that can scorch as well as caress, wrings hidden meanings and searing emotional insights from the texts. Experienced through Mart­n s impassioned yet sensitive score and vocals, these are songs of love and remembrance, of fatalistic hope and ecstatic agony, totally Spanish in essence but universal in spirit.