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JOSÉ MIGUEL MORENO
In the eyes of the critics
"José Miguel
Moreno is one of the great Spanish musicians of our century. His
contribution to the commemoration of the 4th
centenary of the birth of Velázquez was a concentrated review of
some of the jewels of Spanish Baroque. Moreno chose a mixed
programme with an outstanding presence of theatre and courtesan
vocal music, pieces that are rarely performed. In the
instrumental pieces, Moreno and his colleagues-accomplices gave
a class of eloquence and domination of the repertoire. It is
surprising to listen to music that is normally confined to just
the guitar. This is a sign of the times".
Luis Gago. El País 12.4.1999
Early Music at Aranjuez 2000. Palace of
Isabel de Farnesio. 21.10.2000
"A complete
concert in every sense, in which every sense was complete. It
was an authentic pleasure to listen to the ensemble "Orphénica
Lyra" under the direction of José Miguel Moreno. They showed
excellent ways in which to recreate the music from one of the
most important periods in Spanish history ... The sweet sounding
lute of José Miguel delighted us with pieces by Narvaez and
Mudarra ... He demonstrated perfect technical ability in the
difficult Art of the Renaissance 'glossa'. The final result was
a most beautiful and sense evoking concert. The effort on stage
was compensated by applause and three encores".
J. M. Nieto
Chamber and
Polyphonic Music. Auditorio Nacional. Madrid. 16.1.2001
"Spanish Early Music is submerged in a great
paradox. It continues to be little diffused and poorly studied.
However José Miguel Moreno has spent more than ten years
mastering the Art of a music just so deceivingly simple ... It
is not easy to think of more poetic, flowing or technically
perfect versions ... He has marked a before and after in
recreations for the lute".
Luis
Gago
"A recital at the highest artistic level
interpreting music from the Court of Charles V, a repertoire of
one of José Miguel Moreno's most purified specialities ...
stylistic authority and technical excellence was proved once
again ... Clarity, rigour, emotion and faultless virtuosism in
which Moreno stood out with such refine in playing the lute".
Pablo Queipo de Llano
Ocaña. Scherzo. March
2001
José
Miguel Moreno & Nuria Rial
La Real Cámara - Boccherini, quintets for guitar G 451
"Glossa have
just launched the 3rd volume of the series The
Spanish Guitar, dedicated to Mudarra and his contemporaries,
a CD for the lute and Renaissance guitar, alternating various
vocal and instrumental pieces with the customary proficiency and
good taste of José Miguel. The real news is the 4th
volume dedicated to Boccherini as there are few disks of
sufficient musical quality to be found which are interpreted
using original instruments ... I am longing for the summer so
that I can listen to this music in the dark, while smelling the
perfume from the jasmine and the nocturnal spirit of these
magical recreations".
Francisco de Paula Sánchez. CD Compact. March 2001
Pieces
for French theorbo. José Miguel Moreno, angelica and theorbo.
Glossa 920106 DDD
"It appears
that the French theorbos had a relative, although forgotten
today, the so-called 'angelica'. Moreno, a proven manufacturer
and player of this type of instrument, has provided here a new
selection of eleven pieces probably compiled by Michel Béthune
in the 17th Century ... A sovereign interpretation:
clarity, balance, fingering, texture, tact, and timbre beauty ..
in every instrument. A splendid recording".
Artur Reverter. ABC. 16 June 1998
Boccherini,
guitar quintets, G.451 9in E minor, G.448 in D major of the
"Fandango"
José Miguel Moreno, six double string guitar
/ Glossa 920305 DDD
"A beautiful
homage ... The same quintets have been chosen by José Miguel for
this recording to render a well-earned and beautiful homage to
that first recording made by his father, Emilio Moreno. This new
disk is the 4th volume of a collection dedicated to
the Spanish Guitar. This instrument confers a fortunate refined
tone to chamber music, merging together the best Viennese and
Italian styles ... The versions by José Miguel Moreno, full of
nerve and grace, are excellent."
V.P.A. Scherzo. March 2001
"The recording made by this new ensemble
called Orphénica Lyra provides relievo and exceptional quality.
Under the direction of José Miguel Moreno, who on this occasion
plays the six string lute, the ensemble show their conjunction
playing faithful and coherent instrumental arrangements ... The
three solo pieces played by Moreno have the most clear and
beautiful sound ... We have before us a transcendental recording
not only for its strictly musical values in interpretation, but
for what it means in recreation and a new vision of what is
virtually in the writings of one of the great lutanists".
Andrés Ruiz Tarazona. Diverdi Recording.
September 1999
"Moreno's choice of pieces for this CD on
Fuenllana initially seems varied and attractive. All the
instruments are played with technical proficiency and refined
timbre by the musicians taking part ... The solo pieces for the
lute are played with assemblage and emotion by Moreno himself
and demonstrate the exquisiteness of his playing".
Pablo Queipo de Llano.
Scherzo.
Gaspar
Sanz "Instrucción de música para la guitarra española" (Musical
instruction for the Spanish guitar). Glossa 920205 DDD
"Just as he
has us accustomed, this work by Moreno is exquisite, unfolding
the music with aesthetic proverbial lucidity, technical
excellence and expressive emotional intimism ... It is a model
anthology of early Spanish music ... It is one of the best
instrumental testimonies of all Spanish Baroque music, so
precarious in the majority of repertoires. Moreno plays the
Baroque guitar, a formidable work ... Magistral work ... An
indispensable reference in the discography of Gaspar Sanz".
Pablo
Queipo de Llano. Scherzo.
March 2001
"José Miguel
Moreno is surrounded by an ensemble comprising a second Baroque
guitar, theorbo y percussion instruments, resulting in the
generation of enthusiasm. The most spectacular results are
forthcoming from the solo pieces: the dances gain variety
without losing refinement. Moreno's interpretation is not only
light but expressive, his never-failing 'Fantasia' does justice
to the rhythmical and melodious richness of such pieces".
Pablo Galonce. Le Monde de la Musique. March
2001
A
clear and powerful sound
“The sound he extracts from his vihuela is, at the same time,
powerful, clear but never hard, quite the opposite to many other
vihuelists who play, either in an inaudible way, or with a
metallic sound. José Miguel provides such great subtlety to the
curve of sentences in his solos, like in that Fantasy to the
delirious harmony of Mudarra, not scheduled in the programme,
which he dedicated to us before the last group of pieces.
Among this
totally popular music, whether dancing or melancholic, we
discovered treasures such as the sad 'Al alva venid', some
simple and lunar minutes by an anonymous author, or the
serpentine 'Morenica dame un beso' by Vázquez, a model of
counterpoint and of intricate rhythmic figures that Moreno's
musicians played so easily, with an insolent agility and charm.”
Renaud Machard. Le
Monde. 24 September 2000
Konzerthaus Berlin
"José Miguel
Moreno and his ensemble Orphénica Lyra, in the best of their
talent, charmed the audience with the fineness of their
performance, as well as with the delivery of the precise and
harmonious sonority of Court Music from Charles V's time. The
apotheosis of the programme, rich in peaks of perfection, was
undoubtedly the gallant dialogue "Morenica dame un beso",
interpreted with charm and spirit by Nuria Rial and Carlos Mena."
Boris Kehrmann, Tagesspiegel,
Berlin 18 August 2000
Konzerthaus
Berlin
"At the age of only 24, but already with surprising artistic
maturity, Nuria Rial interpreted theatrical Spanish airs from
the time of Calderón. Her soprano voice, light and rich in
colour, was added to her interpretation, which was full of
mischievous and cheerful spirit, and the public just adored it.
Her companion,
José Miguel Moreno, completed this enriching programme with such
a performance that was as poetic as it was full with nuances in
the instrumental movements of that period with a Baroque guitar
and a vihuela."
Boris Kehrmann,
Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 23 August 2000
Mendelshoon
Saal, Gewandaus Leipzig, 2000
"After such a concert, the quality of which reached actual
peaks, we cannot prevent ourselves from thinking that divine
influence may have touched the performer."
Lars Mende, Leipziger Zeitung
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