Cartografia del Mar
Andre Cabráin; Pedro Mateo Ganzález
Eudora Records EUD-SAC-2307 (eudorarecords.com)
The sea, like amniotic fluid, has the power to join us all, as creatures of consciousness, through the power of music. Cartografia Del Mar (A Map of the Sea) is a deeply stirring international and intergenerational program presented here by accomplished flutist (and Scotsman) Andre Cebrián and eminent classical guitarist (and Spaniard) Pedro Mateo González. The album’s, suites and stand-alone compositions are from Astor Piazzolla, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Toru Takemitsu, Robert Beaser, Leo Brouwer and Feliu Gasull.
Up first is Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango. Lyrical and pungent, heavy with the aroma of Argentinian night life through the past century, this magnificent suite has been brilliantly re-imagined by Cebrián and González. In the first movement, Bordel 1900, the duo explores the bordello as the instigator of the 20th century roots of tango. Light, airy, joyous are all descriptive of this movement. Coy, jejune passages are interspersed with waves of intimacy and pungent secrets as Cambrián and González traverse intrigues of the Buenos Aires night like a single-celled organism.
Italian icon Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Sonatina Op.205 is rendered here with exquisite care and skill by both artists, and captures every nuance of this gorgeous, rhythmically varied suite, rife with nearly unbearable beauty. Japanese composer Takemitsu contributes his masterful work, Toward the Sea. In the first movement, The Night, the listener’s skin tingles… all senses are open and awash with an eerie feeling of unseen presences, swathed in mystery… lower flute tones evoke a feeling of isolation, while the guitar is the veritable vapor on which the flute floats. Also of note is the “Mountain Songs” suite by New England-born Beaser. It is a work of pure Americana, stunningly rendered with authenticity by the duo. A magnificent work!
