Canciones de Amor: Songs of Love

AMG Review of Canciones de Amor: Songs of Love

Jonathan Widran
All Music Guide

This compilation of love songs sung by the world-class opera superstar draws from 1989-1994 and highlights the unique reality that his overwhelming voice comes across most convincingly on songs in his native Spanish. His vocals flow freely over a gentle orchestral wind and subtle acoustic guitar on a medley of "Sabra Dios/Un Minuto de Amor/Sabo a Mi," for instance. But the English lyrics to the lushly arranged "Somewhere My Love" seem muddled and fuzzy. His twist on "El Condor Pasa" comes off as revealing and emotional, while "Over the Rainbow" (in English) is a bit pretentious and melodramatic. This sort of dichotomy characterizes the disc, which features stunning orchestral arrangements by Bebu Silvetti and the team of Boris Jojic and Laszlo Bencker. The songs here cover a full range of emotions, from love and weeping to languishing nostalgia and playful rhythm, but, again, there's that language barrier. Isn't it more romantic to seduce your lover with a singer generating emotions in his own language?