Alma Española

America’s leading guitarist, one lavished with prizes, is joined by the equally celebrated soprano Isabel Leonard for a delightfully vivacious collection of music for guitar and voice in arrangements by Isbin herself. Music by Rodrigo, Granados, Lara (yes, “Granada”), Falla and Montsalvatge captures that uniquely Spanish sensibility where emotion sits very close to the surface—and the guitar takes us to Spain with a single chord. Falla’s pungent and vivid Siete canciones populares españolas sit at the programme’s heart and are done with great panache.