Identities / Madrigalista Choir

Songs are decoys, poets and singers, their contraband. There are sacred things that nothing, not even the most unlikely circumstances, can silence. Voices rise beyond the imagined and in our ears they find the right heaven. In Santiago de Cuba, choral music is a tradition and a reason for daily life. It is enough to walk around the Cathedral for the flight of the archangel to be altered by the steps of others who on the ground are faith and baptism of polyphony. In a diverse scenario, where its people dress the music as a habit, the first-born Madrigalist choir distinguishes the chords of the cultural geography. 

I confess that I listen very little to phonograms of choral music, my passion is to enjoy the groups in their concerts. It is also true that I have always had that possibility. However, for a formation of this type it is important to have access to recording studios, as an opportunity to record the work and the patrimonial value it entails.  

Much has been said about the disc medium and its almost null circulation and effectiveness in the chain of production, circulation and consumption of the musical work. Albums outside digital platforms do little favor to the artist, although the "hand to hand" -without commercial results-, works better by reaching at least many interested parties. 

The awards of some record productions in Cubadisco do not have a direct correlation with the promotion of the work, they remain as a source of rejoicing for the artists involved, but in no way are they articulated with the process of distribution and consumption. A few months have passed since the Madrigalista Choir was awarded the Cubadisco 2023 Prize in the Choral Music category for the phonogram IdentitiesI wonder who -outside of those involved in the contest- will have had the opportunity to listen to it, and if it is already in the libraries of provincial and national radio stations. 

The Colibrí label opted for the compilation of pieces whose recording took place at the Siboney studios in Santiago de Cuba, and which refer to the troubadour, sonera and guarachera tradition that Cuban choral groups generally include in their performances, and which in the case of Santiago de Cuba acquire the particular ways of trovasoning, innate to the musicality of the region and very distinguishable in solos and improvisations during the presentations. 

The musical production, in charge of by Rafael Guedes, brought together twelve titles made up of works by Pablo Milanés (Two Hands, Beginning and End of a Green Morning and Ámame como soy), Silvio Rodríguez (Love youé), Carlos Varela (A word), Santiago Feliú (For Barbara), Liuba María Hevia (Absence), Francisco Repilado (Chan Chan), Ñico Saquito (Maria Cristina), Juan Formell (The dance of the tired ox), and Adalberto Álvarez (From Cuba to the whole world).

What would be the point of buying an album to listen to songs we know ad nauseam? Identities shows the sonorous face of the Cuban-universal in a cult to the essences of trovas and choral sones. The phonogram compiles compositions, arrangements and interpretations that go from intimate listening to the space of revelry. As if offering a delicacy in melodic palate, the group, with the guidance of maestro Magalys Sánchez Malleuve for this recording, appeals to the symbiosis of iconic pieces of the cancionística, guarachero and sonero insular from different periods and authors, with versions by Conrado Monier, Melvin Rodríguez, Wilma Alba and Jesús Martínez. In the cases of Monier and Rodríguez, they are among the arrangers with the greatest presence in the choral repertoire of this city at present. And, of course, the translation into song between soloists and choir gives nuances and qualities to some themes whose transcendence is usually dissipated in other contexts with "sound soup" type interpretations.  

Created in 1955 under the direction of Maestro Miguel García Oliva, and with the succession of other directors, the Madrigalista has produced the following productions Madrigalista Choir and Madrigalista Choir XX Anniversary, both under the baton of García; while under the guidance of Santiago Fals, the following are recorded Musical portrait of Santiago de Cuba (with the accompaniment of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Oriente) and Pepe Sanchez Anniversary. The most recent period of recordings has been directed by maestro Magalys Sánchez Malleuve with April Pages (2010), conducted at the Egrem Studios, Resonate harmoniously, Independently produced DVD with music by Esteban Salas, and the album we are discussing today. 

Identities confirms the sonorous architecture of a city where the trova and the son find permanent motives for their reappropriation. Listening to the twelve pillars that support this discographic work connects with an important area of the group's repertoire and saves choral music from phonographic lethargy. From the colonial-style Casona del Madrigalista, located in the emblematic corner of Carnicería alley, the song expands as the language of Cuba to the whole world.

Listen Identities in Sandunga here.