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Pink Martini – La Soledad

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 pianist who does justice to the classical pieces that he sometimes incorporates into their music. One such piece is the Andante Spianato, opus 22 by Chopin, included in “La Soledad” (means “the loneliness” in English).

Another such example is the song “Splendor in the Grass“, the opening passage of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 is mixed brilliantly within the song.

Charles Aznavour: La Bohème

Four different versions of “La Bohème” from the French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor, and diplomat Charles Aznavour (22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018). I don’t know from what year the first version is (black/white), probably the late 60s. The second version is from 1968 and the third version is from 2004. And the fourth one is the German version.

La Bohème is a song written by French songwriter Jacques Plante and Armenian-French artist Charles Aznavour.

Inti-Illimani Histórico with Diego El Cigala – “La Tarara”

“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.

Pink Martini – ¿Dónde estás, Yolanda?

“¿Dónde estás, Yolanda?” is a beautiful Latin American song, from Pink Martini’s 1997 album titled “Sympathique”. It is sung by the guest singer Pepe Raphael.

“¿Dónde estás, Yolanda?” is a song composed by Puerto Rican musician Manuel Jiménez Fernandez and made popular in the 1960s by Afro-Cuban singer Orlando Contreras and the Mexican group Sonora Santanera (an orchestra founded in 1955, still active and playing tropical music from Mexico with over 55 years of history).

Malagueña (Sabicas)

One of the best flamenco guitarists of the 20th century, Sabicas is playing the famous “Malagueña”, a song by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona; written in 1928, it was originally the sixth movement of Lecuona’s Suite Andalucia.

The song has since become a popular, jazz, marching band, and drum corps standard and has been provided with lyrics in several languages.

Jorge Cardoso: Milonga

Milonga is probably the best-known work of the Argentine guitarist and composer Jorge Cardoso. Here are beautiful versions of the piece.

Pavarotti sings La Donna è Mobile

The “king” Luciano Pavarotti sings “La donna è mobile” as Il Duca di Mantova in the screen movie “Rigoletto” (1983) based on Giuseppe Verdi‘s 1851 opera with the same name.

John Williams plays Vivaldi’s Concerto for Lute in D-major

John Williams plays Antonio Vivaldi's Concierto en D-mayor (featured)

One of the most beautiful pieces of Baroque music: John Williams plays Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for Lute in D-Major, RV 93.

Antonio Vivaldi wrote many concertos for various instruments, including lute and mandolin. This Concerto in D major for Lute and Orchestra has been transcribed for guitar. It remains one of the finest examples of Baroque music, it has been recorded by many artists. John Williams’s version is one of the best examples of these.

Vivaldi: Four Seasons [I Musici]

Italian chamber orchestra I Musici performs The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) by Antonio Vivaldi. The Four Seasons is a group of four violin concertos, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. The wonderful videos below are from “I Musici“, a film by award-winning Dutch cinematographer Anton van Munster (1935-2009).

Malagueña Salerosa

One of the best versions of Malagueña Salerosa on the Internet. I don’t know who the performers are, unfortunately.

Malagueña Salerosa (also known as La Malagueña) is a well-known Son Huasteco or Huapango song from Mexico, which has been covered more than 200 times by recording artists. The song is that of a man telling a woman (from Málaga, Spain) how beautiful she is, and how he would love to be her man, but that he understands her rejecting him for being too poor.