PENA: “Misa Flamenca.” La Susi, Rafael Montilla,...

PENA: “Misa Flamenca.” La Susi, Rafael Montilla, Dieguito, Antonio Suarez, singers; Paco Pena, Tito Losada, Jose Losada, Diego Losada, guitars; Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chorus, conducted by Laszlo Heltay. Nimbus NI 5288 (CD). A flamenco Mass may seem like a fusion idea whose time has come, but this project--commissioned by the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland--is based in Andalusian traditions, to say nothing of precursors such as Ariel Ramirez’s “Misa Criolla” and similar ventures from the folk-Mass era. Pena has adapted the liturgical texts to fit the rhythms and melodic patterns of various flamenco forms; for example, the Sanctus becomes ebullient tanguillos for the chorus, while the Kyrie granainas are austere spiritual spasms sung by Montilla. The use of a classically trained chorus removes its music (arranged by Stephen Dodgson) to a more objective level, colliding with the flamencos in ear-bending style and intonation.