Arturo Márquez - El danzón según Márquez

2002; 8 tracks
Eduardo García Barrios / Orquesta Mexicana de las Artes

"Arturo Márquez is a mexican composer known for his series of symphonic danzones, a traditional genre of music and dance that originated in Cuba and is now a staple of mexican culture. This is incredibly beautiful music, with a very distinct personality and harmonic language. The orchestration is nothing short of superb, and the Danzon No. 2 is easily one of the finest Mexican orchestral pieces ever written. Anyone who enjoys Latin-American music like Ginastera or Villa-Lobos, or Mexican music like Moncayo and Revueltas, will adore this."

@ andruini: You asked me what an American thought of this. Well, I fucking loved it. The Danzon According to Marquez has such a jazzy freedom to it that I find lacking in so much classical music today, and it suits my ear a little better when I'm not in the mood for Brahms or Liszt. These works by Márquez have such lyrical beauty (just listen to the luscious harp-infused "Pasión según San Juán de Letrán") that the melodies could easily stand alone - though I much prefer them with the latin rhythms that accompany each piece. The Orquesta Mexicana de las Artes (of course, it MUST be Mexican) produces such incredible interpretations of Márquez that I can't imagine any other recording. This is such a brilliant representation of Mexican music in general, and I desperately want to discover anything similar.

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