Stephen Hough's Spanish album.
Highly recommended - sparkling playing combined with a far from cliched selection. The usual favourite composers are represented : Soler, Granados and Albeniz, as well as Spanish inspired works by Debussy and Godowsky (and others) before concluding with Hough's own composition On Falla.
Perfect listening for this hot Wellington summer.

Placido Domingo, Cornelius Schnauber ; translated by Susan H. Ray. (1985).
A tireless ambassador for Spain and music, Placido is one of "the" world's great tenors. His repertoire spans opera and musicals as well as Spanish folksongs and popular music. He is equally at home on the stage or as a recording artist, and is also an accomplished conductor. This book focuses mainly on the more recent years of his life.
Another of the Three Tenors also originates from Spain - Jose Carreras who has written his autobiography - Singing from the soul.

Montserrat Caballe : casta diva, by Robert Pullen and Stephen Taylor. (1994).
This biography spans the full lenth of Caballe's life - from war-torn Spain, through years of training to present international status. Her fame spread beyond the operatic world through her partnership with Freddie Mercury on the album Barcelona.

Victoria de Los Angeles, by Peter Roberts. (1982).
Another international Spanish performer.

Joys and sorrows : reflections by Pablo Casals, by Pablo Casals, as told to Albert Kahn. (1970).
This is not an autobiography in any strict sense, but a personal life reflection. His life spanned much change in Spain, and his career as a cellist brought him close to many other Spanish musicians including composer and pianist Granados, and the violinist Sarasate. Many international composers composed and dedicated works to Casals, as diverse as Schoenberg, and Saint-Saens.

Manuel de Falla and the Spanish musical renaissance, by Burnett James.
Mr James sees the composer Manuel de Falla as "the most complete representative of the Spanish mind and spirit in music". While it encomposes de Falla's life, this book is more of an assessment of his works and contribution to Spanish musical heritage.

El amor brujo ; El sombrero de tres picos (together with La vida breve, opera), by Manual de Falla.
El amor brujo (Love the magician) concerns a beautiful gypsy girl and her suitor who are haunted by the ghost of her dead lover, and contains the famous "Ritual Fire Dance", which the heroine performs at midnight. The next work (The three-cornered hat) was commissioned by Diaghilev in 1916 for his Ballet Russes. It began life as a pantomime called El corregidor y la molinera (The magistrate the and miller's wife) which Diaghilev liked but asked for some alterations including an expanded orchestra. Both versions have stood the test of time as works of note.

The library has several versions of these ballet suites shelved in Orchestral / Ballet.

Flamenco : fire and grace, (Narada collection).
"Flamenco emerged as a distinct musical style just two centuries ago, bubbling up from the streets, the bars and the Gypsy ghettoes, speaking of immense tragedy and bitter poverty."

Fire & passion : the new flamenco.

Diaspora sefardi, performed by Hesperion XX1.
"This is music of the Sefardim, the Spanish Jews exiled in 1492. The first disc is a programme of romances... Throughout, the playing is superb, but inevitably the musicians really come into their own on the second CD, a set of instrumentals and improvisations, including the slow-burning rapture of Axerico. .... Quite simply, a great recording." (Amazon)

Cancionero : music for the Spanish court (1470-1520), performed by the Dufay Collective.
This represents a collection of short pieces (songs and instrumental items) that spans the music heard at court entertainment in late 15th century Spain. (drawn from CD booklet).

Motets, by Victoria performed by Victoria Voices and Viols.
"The motets of Tomas Luis de Victoria are justly regarded as masterpieces of the late Renaissance. The music on this album covers pieces written for performance between Christmas and Easter." (Amazon)

The Library has many religious vocal works by this composer who was a key exponent of late Renaissance polyphony. Some more examples:

• Works devoted to Our Lady e.g. Salve Regina
• Lamentations (music for Easter)
• Ave Maris Stella (which won the Gramophone Early Music Award in 1985)
• Missa Laetatus sum.