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Sharon Isbin | Isabel Leonard

Alma Espanola

Bridge Records

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7UpfS6lzHg
Isabel Leonard & Sharon Isbin Perform Granada by Agustin Lara
Isabel Leonard sings the National Anthem at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show - Feb 2017
1 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / El cafe de Chinitas (2:59)  
2 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Las morillas de Jaen (2:08)  
3 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Anda, jaleo (2:01)  
4 Granados - Danza espanola No. 5 (Andaluza) (5:36)  
5 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Romance de Don Boyso (5:02)  
6 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Zorongo (1:11)  
7 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Nana de Sevilla (4:22)  
8 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / La Tarara (arr. Emilio de Torre/Isbin) (:57)  
9 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Los mozos de Monleon (6:18)  
10 Lorca - Canciones espanolas antiguas / Sevillanas del siglo XVIII (2:45)  
11 Rodrigo - Aranjuez ma pensee (6:29)  
12 Lara - Granada (3:08)  
13 Tarrega - Capricho arabe (5:55)  
14 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / El pano moruno (1:22)  
15 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / Seguidilla murciana (1:22)  
16 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / Asturiana (2:38)  
17 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / Jota (3:19)  
18 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / Nana (1:57)  
19 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / Cancion (1:04)  
20 de Falla - Siete canciones populares espanolas / Polo (1:38)  
21 Montsalvatge - from Cinco canciones negras / Canto negro (1:17)  
22 Montsalvatge - from Cinco canciones negras / Cancion de cuna para dormir a un negrito (2:42)  
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ALMA ESPAÑOLA presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granados and Tárrega, are heard in performances that evoke the rich and magnificent tradition of Spain. Leonard & Isbin have been appearing as a duo since 2014 in sold-out concerts across the country, including Washington DC's Kennedy Center and New York's Carnegie Hall. The Philadelphia Inquirer described their performance as "feasts of beautifully sculpted phrases…glimpses of heaven," the New York Times praised their "soulful depth" and the Washington Post their "impassioned performance ... captivating sense of drama."  The collaboration of Isabel Leonard and Sharon Isbin brings together one of today's brightest vocal stars, heard on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera and Paris Opera, with a guitar virtuoso acclaimed as "the pre-eminent guitarist of our time."

  • The essential Isabel Leonard / CLASSICAL VOICE
    Posted At: April 5, 2021 12:00 AM

    CLASSICAL VOICE - Jason Victor Serinus writes....It is hard to believe that mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, one of the brightest talents on the American opera scene to emerge in the new millennium, will turn 40 next February. Is it really almost 15 years since her career took off in 2007, at age 25 when, she made her debut at The Met (New York's Metropolitan Opera) as Stéphano in Gounod's Rom&e...
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  • Isabel Leonard shines with SFO in magical performance of Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges / OPERAwire
    Posted At: July 3, 2019 12:00 AM

    Fantasy. Enchantment. The Land of Dreams. So it was in San Francisco on the last day of June with Ravel's "L' Enfant et des Sortileges" at Davies Symphony Hall and the Annual San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. Just getting to the concert hall was a multi-colored, multi-media challenge, long-before the audience was presented with the anime-enhanced multi-chorus semi-staged opera. And indoors, it was all ...
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  • Isabel Leonard balancing singing and being a mother / The Mainichi
    Posted At: June 1, 2019 12:00 AM

    Isabel Leonard had just finished singing Sesto in Handel's "Giulio Cesare" in Paris and was taking a few days off with her 8-month-old son Teo when her manager's office contacted her and asked whether she was on a plane back to the U.S. "I'm like, no, I'm actually in Vienna," she said. That was good news for the Vienna State Opera. The performer scheduled to play Cherubino had got...
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  • Sharon Isbin and Isabel Leonard carry the flame of the Spanish soul to great heights / GUITARE CLASSIQUE
    Posted At: December 4, 2018 12:00 AM

    sharALMA ESPAÑOLA presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Gra...
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  • Sharon Isbin brings new spirit to Federico Garcia Lorca / Guitar Player
    Posted At: September 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    "The weeping of the guitar begins. Useless to silence it. Impossible to silence it." Federico García Lorca wrote those words in his 1921 poem "La Guitarra," but he could have just as easily been writing about himself. Sharon Isbin is the latest musician to present an interpretation of García Lorca's music. The celebrated classical guitarist teamed up with opera singer Isabel Leonard to ...
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  • Alma Espanola communicates the essence of the spanish 'soul' superbly / musicweb-international
    Posted At: June 25, 2018 12:00 AM

    (The weeping of the guitar begins. It is useless to silence it, impossible to silence it … it sobs for far off things. Sands of the hot South, pleading for white camellias … Oh, guitar! Heart badly-wounded by five swords). These lines come as close as anything I know to evoking (and to a degree defining) the ‘Alma Española' (the Spanish soul/spirit) and the guitar's place in it...
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  • Live in HD brings The Met opera to QC screens / Quad City Times
    Posted At: June 24, 2018 12:00 AM

    Retiree Jim Davis reveled at Rave Cinemas on Wednesday afternoon in an encore screening of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," a 2016 Metropolitan Opera production directed by Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient"). Davis is a devoted fan of the Met's "Live in HD" series, which transmits operas live to 2,200-plus screens in more than 70 countries. Backstage commentary and interviews are included. Wh...
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  • While making Cleveland debut, Sharon Isbin stops by ideacenter for perf/chat
    Posted At: February 19, 2018 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} Classical guitarist Sharon Isbin has a long list of accomplishments including winning multiple Grammy awards. Her latest CD "Alma Espanola" features Isbin collaborating with Argentinian-American, and GRAMMY Award winner, Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 ...
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  • Sharon Isbin discusses spanish guitar tradition with KUAF: Fayetteville AR
    Posted At: January 16, 2018 12:00 AM

    Heavyweight classical guitarist Sharon Isbin explores how the Spanish guitar tradition grew from its humble beginnings to become an iconic part of the musical landscape in her latest release, "Alma Espanola."  A collaboration with vocalist Isabel Leonard, "Alma Espanola" documents the Spanish tradition of cante jondo  or "deep song," in which the very landscape of the country is manif...
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  • Sharon Isbin q&a with Guitar Girl
    Posted At: December 10, 2017 12:00 AM

    Sharon Isbin's name is synonymous with classical guitar, and while it is the style for which she is best known, her repertoire extends into a remarkable network of artists and projects, from symphonic maestros to the hierarchy of rock and roll. An award-winning virtuoso, she has performed as a soloist with over 170 orchestras around the world, appeared on television programs, performed at the White House...
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  • Overflowing with Iberian spirit, Sharon Isbin q&a's on Alma Espanola with Classical Guitar
    Posted At: November 29, 2017 12:00 AM

    Sharon Isbin and Argentinian American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard's enchanting recent album Alma Española is, according to the guitarist, the first devoted to Spanish "art song" since Narciso Yepes and Castilian mezzo Teresa Berganza put out their Canciones Populares Españolas record on Deutsche Grammophon 40 years ago. That LP consisted of Federico Garcia Lorca's 13 Canciones españ...
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  • There is arguably no recording with more spanish soul than, Alma Espanola / Classical101 - WOSU
    Posted At: November 9, 2017 12:00 AM

    If musical instruments are said to have souls, then there is no instrument with a soul more Spanish than the guitar. And now, there is arguably no recording with a more Spanish soul than Alma Española, a new recording of Spanish music performed by two of classical music's most celebrated artists: guitarist Sharon Isbin and vocalist Isabel Leonard. The first of its kind in decades, Alma Espa&nt...
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  • Sharon Isbin makes Cleveland debut / ideastreamWCLV
    Posted At: November 3, 2017 12:00 AM

    The winner of two Grammy Awards and Guitar Player magazine's "Best Classical Guitarist," Sharon Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 170 orchestras and has given sold-out performances in the world's finest halls. Her documentary Troubadour has been viewed by millions of people on over 200 television stations. On Saturday, November 4 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the Clevel...
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  • Sharon Isbin discusses Isabel Leonard collaboration - Alma Espanola, with New Classical Tracks
    Posted At: October 18, 2017 12:00 AM

    New Classical Tracks is a Syndicated Feature airing Nationally on Classical 24 & Statewide on Minnesota Public Radio. Listen to Julie Amacher's Feature with Sharon Isbin. LISTEN  READ THE TRANSCRIPT - "I think that it's one of the best things you can ever do as a person, as a musician, is really just stay open to the world and be very welcoming to wonderful ideas as they h...
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  • Sharon Isbin makes fresh transcriptions for collaboration with Isabel Leonard, on Alma Espanola / Colorado Public Radio
    Posted At: October 8, 2017 12:00 AM

    Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca trained on both piano and guitar, and considered a career as a musician before becoming a writer. Following his tragic death, his musical connections continued as composers dedicated pieces to his memory or based pieces on his words. Garcia Lorca also wrote a handful of pieces himself but they have survived only as recordings and in arrangements by others. Guitarist Sha...
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  • Isabel Leonard and Sharon Isbin illuminate Spanish art songs on Alma Espanola / GRAMOPHONE
    Posted At: October 6, 2017 12:00 AM

    Isabel Leonard and Sharon Isbin illuminate Spanish art songs in orbit around Lorca and Falla by mixing popular favourites and surprising discoveries with two jewelled pieces for solo guitar. In each of the nine Lorca songs, reflecting the poet/composer's commitment to speaking with the voices and instruments of the people, Leonard and Isbin find and intensify their individual message. At the end of &lsqu...
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  • Sharon Isbin, Isabel Leonard - Alma Espanola / Savarez
    Posted At: September 26, 2017 12:00 AM

    The collaboration of Leonard and Isbin brings together one of today's brightest vocal stars, heard on the stages of the Metropolitan, Vienna State and Paris Operas, with Isbin who is acclaimed as ‘the pre-eminent guitarist of our time'. 'Alma Española' includes twelve world premiere arrangements by Isbin. Duos for voice & guitar by García Lorca, de Falla, La...
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  • WRTI profiles Sharon Isbin and Alma Espanola
    Posted At: September 25, 2017 12:00 AM

    She dreamed of growing up to be a rocket scientist, but now Sharon Isbin explores a different universe-the repertoire for classical guitar.  ALMA ESPAÑOLA presents the GRAMMY Award winner with the Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico Gar...
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  • Sharon Isbin interviews with 95.5KHFM - Albuquerque
    Posted At: September 14, 2017 12:00 AM

    "Alma Española" is a new album released by Grammy Award winning guitarist Sharon Isbin and Grammy Award winning singer Isabel Leonard on the Bridge Records label. It's an all-Spanish recording for voice and guitar, including twelve arrangements by Isbin. The Philadelphia Inquirer described Leonard and Isbin's performance as "Feasts of beautifully sculpted phrases... glimpses of heaven,...
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  • Sharon Isbin set for another Alma Espanola radio day
    Posted At: September 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px} Alma Española presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Fe...
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  • Sharon Isbin talks about new Isabel Leonard collaboration / IdeaStation: WCVE
    Posted At: September 11, 2017 12:00 AM

    "Alma Española" is a new album released by Grammy Award winning guitarist Sharon Isbin and Grammy Award winning singer Isabel Leonard on the Bridge Records label. It's an all-Spanish recording for voice and guitar, including twelve arrangements by Isbin. The Philadelphia Inquirer described Leonard and Isbin's performance as "Feasts of beautifully sculpted phrases... glimpses of heaven," and Th...
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  • Sharon Isbin | Isabel Leonard - Alma Espanola is WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: September 11, 2017 12:00 AM

    ALMA ESPAÑOLA presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granado...
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  • Isbin Isabel Incredible! - Sharon Isbin interviews with WBAA - Radio Purdue
    Posted At: September 6, 2017 12:00 AM

    Alma Espagnola is the latest from guitarist Sharon Isbin and soprano Isabel Leonard. "Spanish Soul" doesn't even begin to describe the beauty and depth of this new Bridge Records release! The exciting repertoire, new arrangements, and detail to phrasing are truly exquisite. Isabel Leonard will be in Muncie this September performing music by Leonard Bernstein and giving a masterclass at Ball State Uni...
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  • Sharon Isbin speaks with Classical IPR about Alma Espanola
    Posted At: September 6, 2017 12:00 AM

    Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin has a new album called "Alma Española." On the new album, Isbin and mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard perform Spanish-language art songs, many of which are new arrangements Isbin created. Sharon Isbin recently spoke with Classical IPR's Amanda Sewell about the new album. She gave some insights about the close relationship between the composers Federico Ga...
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  • Sharon Isbin | Isabel Leonard - Alma Espanola is All Classical Portland: Featured CD
    Posted At: September 5, 2017 12:00 AM

    This is a special recording on a number of fronts.  In the first place, it's the premiere by these two artists, both of them winners of multiple Grammy awards, recording together after collaborating for several years in concert.  Second, this is the first recording in about 40 years devoted exclusively to Spanish songs for voice and guitar.  An expected part of this recording are the Siete...
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  • Sharon Isbin | Isabel Leonard - Alma Espanola is IPR: New Release of the Week
    Posted At: September 4, 2017 12:00 AM

    Mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard and guitarist Sharon Isbin have a new album on Bridge Records called Alma Española. The album features art songs by Spanish composers including Manuel de Falla and Federico Garcia Lorca. Many of the Spanish-language art songs on this album have not been recorded with a guitarist and a native Spanish-speaking singer in over forty years. Isbin created new arrangements of...
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  • Sharon Isbin discusses Alma Espanola with Classical Radio
    Posted At: August 17, 2017 12:00 AM

    Alma Española presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granado...
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  • Sharon Isbin is Capital Public Radio - Artist of the Week
    Posted At: August 15, 2017 12:00 AM

    Guitarist Sharon Isbin performing "Capricho arabe" by Francisco Tarrega. Let's start with a selection from Isbin's new album called Alma Espanola or "Spanish Soul;" released just this past month. She may be familiar to concert goers since she's been to the area several times to perform. Most recently, Isbin appeared at the Mondavi Center last year with the New York Chamber Soloists. This ...
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  • Sharon Isbin set for Harris Concert Hall / The Aspen Times
    Posted At: August 5, 2017 12:00 AM

    Sharon Isbin has performed on the Grammys and for the Obamas at the White House. She's released more than 25 albums and soloed with nearly 200 orchestras. She's blazed a trail for women in the world of classical guitar and is generally regarded as the instrument's best living practitioner. Her musical journey began in Aspen, where she first arrived as an Aspen Music Festival and School st...
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  • Aspen Public Radio's music festival showcase, features Sharon Isbin
    Posted At: August 1, 2017 12:00 AM

    What is Grammy Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin doing with Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld? What will she be doing this Saturday, August 5 at 8:00 pm at Harris Concert Hall at the Aspen Music Festival? Classical Music host Chris Mohr asked Sharon about both of these, and Sharon even volunteered how she is coping with what she calls the dismantling of our democracy. Sharon's concert may well be a sell...
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  • Isabel Leonard | Sharon Isbin - Alma Espanola is WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: July 30, 2017 12:00 AM

    ALMA ESPAÑOLA presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granado...
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  • Sharon Isbin | Isabel Leonard - Alma Espanola is KDFC: Download of the Week
    Posted At: July 12, 2017 12:00 AM

    Alma Española presents multiple GRAMMY Award winners Sharon Isbin and Argentinian-American Isabel Leonard in the first Spanish art song album with guitar of its kind in 40 years, including twelve world premiere recordings of arrangements by Isbin. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granado...
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