Composer: Ernesto Lecuona
Performer: Clara Rodriguez
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Nimbus
Catalogue: NI6214
Release: 2013
Size: 199 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Ante el Escorial
02. Granada
03. Zambra Gitana
04. En Tres por Cuatro
19th Century Cuban Dances
05. La Primera en la Frente
06. A la Antigua
07. Impromptu
08. Interrumpida
09. La Cardenense
10. Ella y Yo
11. La Mulata
12. Minstrels
13. Arabesque
14. Al Fin Te Vi
15. San Francisco el Grande
Afro-Cuban Dances
16. Danza Lucumi
17. La Comparsa
18. Danza Negra
19. … Y la Negra Bailaba
20. Danza de los Ñáñigos
21. La Conga de Media Noche
Analusian Suite
22. I. Córdoba
23. II. Andalucía
24. III. Alhambra
25. IV. Gitanerías
26. V. Guadalquivir
27. VI. Malagueña
Ernesto Lecuona was born in Guanabacoa, a village near Havana, Cuba. His oldest sister Ernestina introduced him to the instrument for which he showed extraordinary talent, playing the accompaniment of silent movies from the age of 7 to financially help his family.
In 1908 he composes his first piece “Cuba and America”, in 1912 his first musical, “Fantasia Tropical” as well as his first ballet, “La comparsa” thus marking the beginning of a prolific life as a composer. He wrote more than 400 songs, 176 pieces for the piano, 50 theatrical pieces, 31 orchestral works, 15 soundtracks for the cinema, 5 ballets, one trio and an opera. His popularity came to him thanks to his virtuosic, passionate, piano playing, the beauty of his melodies, the force of the rhythms of his compositions but also thanks to the hundreds of interpretations of pieces such as Siboney, Para Vigo Me Voy, Canto Karabali Maria my Own, La comparsa and Malagueña. His creative talent touched intensely a generation of Latin Americans who have not forgotten his music. During the 40s and 50s The Metro Goldwyn Mayer and the 20th Century Fox film companies asked him to write the music for many of their films. In 1942 he was awarded an Academy Award for his song “Always in my heart”, from a film produced by the Warner Brothers.