The Spanish guitarist Rafael Serrallet presents a recording that, far from appealing to anecdote, offers a careful and sensitive interpretation of a repertoire composed by Latin American women. Together with the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Lviv, under the baton of Serhiy Khorovets, the recording explores a corpus of popular songs from a pluralistic perspective.
By Virginia Chacon Dorr
Y el canto de todas stands out both for the solidity of its conceptual approach and the sonic quality of its production. Recorded in the Main Hall of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in Lviv, the project led by Rafael Serrallet focuses on works composed by Latin American women throughout the twentieth century. The selection, far from promoting a uniform or exoticized image of the continent’s popular repertoire, highlights a carefully preserved stylistic diversity through arrangements that respect the specific character of each piece.
She
The program is structured around a series of songs originally conceived in vocal format and arranged for solo guitar and symphony orchestra. While many of these pieces have circulated widely in popular versions, Serrallet’s proposal explores a less traveled path: the prominence of the classical guitar as a melodic vehicle, conveying the composers’ voices without losing expressiveness or clarity. In this regard, the timbral combination of the orchestra and guitar provides a flexible framework, capable of highlighting both the most lyrical inflections and those associated with folkloric or urban gestures.
The result is an expanded chamber music version, where the orchestral density never overwhelms the original gesture, and the guitar acts as the conductor of a balanced discourse. The mixing and sound staging decisions contribute to this clarity: the balance between soloist and ensemble is precise, allowing the details to be perceived without sacrificing the unity of the sound.
Plural Latin America
One of the album’s strengths lies in its avoidance of any attempt at aesthetic homogenization. The geographical and stylistic diversity of the works serves as the structural axis of the journey: the Peruvian waltz “Fina estampa” by Chabuca Granda coexists with “Aire norteño” by María Luisa Anido, a traditional dance from Argentina’s northwest, alongside widely known songs such as Consuelo Velázquez’s bolero “Bésame mucho” and the iconic “Gracias a la vida” by Violeta Parra. Far from pursuing forced stylization, the arrangements adapt sensitively to the rhythmic and harmonic particularities of each piece, allowing each composition to retain its identity within the orchestral framework.
Tributes
The album includes two bonus tracks: a version of “Bésame mucho” featuring Argentine bandoneonist Javier Cárdenas, whose performance highlights the dance-like character of the piece with its unmistakable Río de la Plata flair, and an elegy composed by Serrallet himself during the recording in Lviv. The piece was written between November 2 and 3, 2024, as a tribute to the victims of the tragic flooding that occurred in Valencia during those days. It is a simple and restrained work, avoiding grandiosity and finding in the melodic line a form of introspection, appropriate to the gravity of the event.
Y el canto de todas…
It successfully combines reflection and pleasurable listening. It offers a careful interpretation of often underrepresented repertoires and provides an experience that can be as stimulating as it is enjoyable. Perhaps its ideal listening context is a moment of calm when attention is fully focused: a Sunday morning, unhurried, with the ear open to be carried away by the multiple voices of this music.
Technical Details
Album title: Y el canto de todas
Performer: Rafael Serrallet, guitar
Guest conductor: Serhiy Khorovets
Orchestra: National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Lviv
Bandoneon (bonus track): Javier Cárdenas
Recording venue: Main Hall of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Lviv
Recording dates: November 2 to 5, 2024
Repertoire: Works by 20th-century Latin American women composers, arranged for guitar and orchestra
