Estrellita

Divine Art is delighted to announce a superb collection of sensuous classical Spanish language songs for voice and piano, from the sublime musical partnership of lyric soprano Esther Rayo and renowned pianist and conductor Peter Grünberg. This program of works was first heard in a series of concerts given by the San Francisco based teaching and performance organization LIEDER ALIVE!

The songs are by early 20^th century composers: Fernando Obradors, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Alberto Ginastera, Xavier Montsalvatge, Consuelo Velázquez and Manuel Ponce. Drawing from Spanish classical poetry and regional folk melodies, these vibrant song cycles offer appeal to art song aficionados and first-time listeners alike.

Born in California, and surrounded by Spanish music and language, this music is close to Esther Rayo’s heart. Her connection with these songs started when she was introduced to the music of Manuel Obradors while in college. Obradors offered the perfect starting point for her continued study and discovery of Spanish art song, and she was guided by the great 20th century sopranos Montserrat Caballé and Victoria de los Angeles, who kept this music alive.

While she was at graduate school in 2017, Esther was introduced to Peter by Maxine Bernstein, Founder and Director of LIEDER ALIVE! and they made an immediate musical connection around the works of Spanish language composers. LIEDER ALIVE! helped provide opportunities for Peter and Esther to perform this music together, alongside its standard mission of promoting German Lieder. Over the years they continued to study and learn more classical Spanish repertoire, resulting in this, their debut album together. And, even after all these years, they still feel they’ve only just scraped the surface of this wonderful repertoire!