Albany Records Releases Río de Sangre

Related: Albany Records, Rio de Sangre

Albany Records has released Río de Sangre, an opera with music by Don Davis and libretto by Kate Gale, in a Spanish translation by Alicia Partnoy (TROY1296/97, 2 CDs). Commissioned by the Florentine Opera Company, Río de Sangre received its world premiere by the company in October 2010. This recording was made during those performances by the Florentine Opera Company and Chorus and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra conducted by the company’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Joseph Rescigno.

“The action,” writes Corliss Phillabaum in the liner notes, “takes place in an unnamed country in the ‘Southern hemisphere’ and the text is sung in Spanish, but the characters and events clearly echo conditions and crises from any place and any time.”

RÍO DE SANGRE

An Opera by Don Davis
Libretto by Kate Gale
Spanish translation by Alicia Partnoy

Albany Records (TROY1296/97)
Two-CD Set, including 44-page booklet with synopsis and libretto in English and Spanish

The Florentine Opera Company
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Florentine Opera Chorus
Joseph Rescigno, conductor

Cast
Guido LeBron (Christian Delacruz)
Kerry Walsh (Antonia)
John Duykers (Jesus Guajardo)
Ava Pine (Blanca)
Vale Rideout (Igneo)
Mabel Ledo (Estella)
Matthew Richardson (Señor Marcos)
Scott Johnson (Señor Thomas)
Rubin Casas (Bishop Ruiz)
Jon Olsen (Miguel)
David A. Lange (Fuentes)
Darwin Sanders (Kidnapper)

RÍO DE SANGRE CD set is available online at
www.albanyrecords.com, at fine record stores or from
Albany Music Distributors, 915 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207 • 518/436-8814

“Río de Sangre is an important new opera,” states conductor Joseph Rescigno, “truly a ‘grand’ opera, more ambitious than many other contemporary works in its scope and significance.

“In this age of operas based on movies, plays, novellas or news stories, we have here a rare bird: an original plot and libretto. The characters’ development is embedded in the music as much as in the libretto. The five leading roles require top-notch musicians, which we have in this production, able to project in the widest possible range and to handle very complex rhythms. And they need powerful acting skills, which we also have in this production.”

About the music, Maestro Rescigno comments, “Don Davis has a personal musical style that is unmistakably his own, ranging from a wide array of tonalities to written-out jazz. He uses diverse styles but the music never sounds eclectic, because it so perfectly reflects the drama, serving the story admirably, from crowd scenes to more intimate moments. The opera is beautifully orchestrated. Some parts are very colorful; others are simple and spare. To some degree, I would call it ‘21st Century Impressionism.’”

ABOUT DON DAVIS (COMPOSER)
Don Davis has enjoyed a successful and widely varied musical career as a composer of contemporary orchestral and chamber works and music for film and television. His work has featured in the Monday Evening Concerts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and has been performed by such notable ensembles as The California E.A.R. Unit, The Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Arditti Quartet, the Debussy Trio, and the Rundfunk Kammer Orchester of Amsterdam, among others. Mr. Davis is perhaps best known in the world of film and television music for his work on the Matrix trilogy of movies (The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions).

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