Ismael Jordi, worthy ambassador of Christmas

Let us remember that Ismaël Jordi finally triumphs with the much desired “Werther” at this stage of maturity. Let us therefore appreciate the change made to this more diversified and “lighter” program. We – and he – had not heard/organized a concert in such an emblematic space, surely the most beautiful in the Alcazar, small for a concert and, we do not know if because of that, because of the height of the dome or perhaps the tiles (which work acoustically like crystals), the truth is that the sound propagates too much in all sides.

We assume they would have done some testing in the afternoon to see if it was better to keep the piano lid fully or partially open. Eventually everything was opened, perhaps so we could see the the power that the tenor cherishes, and the magnificent state of his voice.

They started with Seville, that is to say with Turinwith three known pieces: the first ‘Desires’ from ‘Three Sonnets’ op. 54, with text by Rodríguez Marínand it was precisely this that opened the shortlist, a sonnet full of romanticism that led to an intense ending crowned by a high note, for which Jordi was already prepared from the beginning. He followed the “Balm-shaped arrow”which does not dispense with the sentence character before the sharp endings, on the text of the Álvarez Quintero brothers. It is precisely this nature of invocation which seeks emotion before virtuosity, and there Jordi had to overcome the half-voice which constantly lurks any forgetting in this piece. Finally, “Song of Songs”of ‘Poem in the form of songs’ by Turinais not only the fundamental piece of the book of Campoamorbut one of the bastions of his vocal catalog. He had to master the agility of the Andalusian range, the rises to the high notes and the sudden drops.

Another different moment came from the hand of Francis López with his “Homage to Luis Mariano”which Jordi wanted to join. And if we remember the winner (only those of us who are old enough), we keep in mind in his performances and his films those high notes that the tenor from Jerez recovered and brought back to us as a souvenir. In the second song, ‘The Song of Sereno’ The sweetness of the music came through, again passing through the middle voice, sometimes resorting to falsetto, which he repeated at the end with a ‘force’ unexpected. Out of curiosity, in “Basque song” They did the first section fast, the second slow and the third ‘accelerando’ sung by Jordi and Fernández at the same time.

I don’t need to prove it, but the voice needs a break halfway through, and Rubén Fernández Aguirre while he offered us an arrangement for solo piano of ‘The hamlet’ (Guridi), showing his well-known mastery and at the same time that the acoustics were not the best and that the piano was not what one expects from a Yamaha either.

We could listen to Jordi as many times as any of the evenings in which he appears “Dona Francisquita” of the Professor Vivesfrankly, this romance “You know where the fire is by the smoke” : it seems written for him, just like the one who finished the recital as advice, “This simply cannot be the case.”to which he brought out an intensity that seems to end in a C when he does it on A. It’s only a step and a half, but each semitone in this section can become an unattainable goal, according to the singer.

How little is programmed Pablo Luna and, for the same reason, we appreciated the inclusion of ‘Paxarin you who steal’ (“The Naughty Miller”) and how the Aragonese maestro keeps the melody high and makes the accompaniment boil so that the singer and the pianist shine. Like in romance “Bella in Love” (“The Last Romantic”) by Soutullo and Vertwe had another “coincidence” with your beloved teacher Alfredo Krauswho he must be thinking about now that he is with “Werther”; and despite this, how different it is from that of the teacher and at the same time how good each reading is.

THE the second part was dedicated to Christmasand famous songs participated with other unknowns, like those who started the second part “Song of divine poverty” (J. Zarzana),’December morning’ (D.Beigbeder-D.Dorantes) and the most famous, ‘Romance of the Pilgrims’. This is how the arrangements began, especially for the best-known and even the most serious Christmas carols, such as ‘Faithful followers’which had versions in which the harmonies were “updated”, which brought a completely different dimension to the usual songs. The arrangement of the latter song belonged to C.Imazjust like the “Silent Night”which otherwise we would have heard again its fundamental and well-known chords.

Finally, from “The Drummer Boy”we were also offered a very careful and different version, with that clear and transparent voice, with more than perfect diction that Jordi possesses. And a surprise: With “Come to my house this Christmas”, popularized by Luis Aguilé, singer and composer of the song, Jordi encouraged the audience to sing the chorus, and to our great surprise, a large majority knew it! : remember that it was released as a single in 1969. Finally, one of the Manuel Alexandro close, “Sowing at Christmas” that, among so many famous people, Placido Domingo He is one of those who sang it the most. Here again it was necessary to put more expression and soul than virtuosity, and the order of priorities is very clear for Ismael Jordi.