Hora Staccato is a short, very fast violin piece in a Romanian hora style, composed by Romanian composer and violinist or violin virtuoso Grigoraș Dinicu. It is Dinicu’s most famous and often-played virtuoso violin showpiece. Dinicu is widely regarded as…
Luis Mariano sings “Mexico”, a song from the Le Chanteur de Mexico (The Singer from Mexico), a French film directed by Richard Pottier starring Luis Mariano and Bourvil, released in 1957.
Famous Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo sings Malagueña, a song by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, written in 1928. Malagueña was originally the sixth movement of Lecuona’s Suite Andalucia.
Georges Moustaki sings “Le Flamenco, una España sin Franco” (The Flamenco, a Spain without Franco), in French. The guitars are played by the Spanish flamenco guitarist José Pisa.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky (16 October 1962 – 22 November 2017) sings Ochi Chyornye (Dark Eyes), a very famous Russian-Ukrainian folk song. Live in Japan, 2005. Ochi Chyornye (Dark Eyes) is probably the most famous Russian romance. The lyrics of the song…
Three famous chazzans (cantors, see notes 1), Naftali Herstik, Alberto Mizrahi, Benzion Miller with the Neimah Singers sing Tumbalalaika. From the concert “Cantors; A Faith in Song” recorded in the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam in 2003.
Two masters of the guitar, Eliot Fisk, a great classical guitarist, and Paco Peña, one of the greatest flamenco guitarists ever: in a tiny concert presented by NPR Music, they’re playing two classical and two flamenco pieces. The repertoire here…
Anda Jaleo is probably the best remembered and the most frequently performed song of the many Spanish canciones (songs) compiled, arranged, recorded, and popularized by Federico García Lorca and La Argentinita. Here is the Teresa Berganza & Narciso Yepes version…
Alma, Corazón y Vida (means soul, heart, and life) is a traditional Peruvian waltz. Here it is a rare instrumental version played by the Serbian Latin-American music band Pachamama.
Paco de Lucía, one of the greatest flamenco guitarists in history has died at age 66. A great loss to Andalucía, Spain, and humanity. It is reported that he died in Cancun (Mexico) of a heart attack while playing with…
La Soledad is a Latin ballad, recorded on Pink Martini’s first album Sympathique (1997). It is one of the songs which is sung by the guest singer Pepe Raphael on the album. The band’s leader Thomas Lauderdale is a brilliant…
“La Tarara” is an antique Spanish song. Here it is played by the popular Chilean group Inti-Illimani Histórico and sung by Diego El Cigala, the famous flamenco singer.