Al Ayre Espa�ol, Eduardo L�pez Banzo & Mar�a Espada - Jos� De Nebra: Esta Dulzura Amable - Sacred Cantatas

This is first recording for Challenge Classics by the very highly-rated Al Ayre Espa�ol and its conductor Eduardo L�pez Banzo - and the beginning of a long-term partnership. The sacred cantatas performed on this Hybrid SACD are by Jos� de Nebra, the �father� of Spanish opera and Zarzuela. The musical director Eduardo L�pez Banzo was born in Zaragoza in 1961. In the operatic field he is considered to be one of the most important specialists in Handel�s music for theatre. L�pez Banzo, who founded Al Ayre Espa�ol in 1988, was awarded the Spanish National Music Prize in 2004 in recognition of more than 20 years of musicological rigueur and performance excellence.Jos� de Nebra was an important figure in the Spanish musical scene in the middle part of the 18th century. The Nebra family worked primarily in the province of Zaragoza, but Jos�, who was born in Calatayud and died in Madrid, achieved fame and influence on a much wider scale. In the second decade of the 18th century, the 20-year-old Jos� Nebra was already working as organist and composer in the royal court of Madrid. He was esteemed as a composer of stage music and wrote numerous songs for the royal chapel's religious celebrations. Over a period of time, several of these, characteristic of solemn sacred palatine ceremonies, found their way to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The four cantatas featured on this CD were discovered among hundreds of forgotten manuscripts in the vaults of the cathedral in Guatemala City. Personnel: Mar�a Espada (soprano), Farran James (violin), Pedro Luis Arteche de la Fuente (viola), James Bush (cello), Francisco Aguil� Matas (double bass), Juan Carlos de Mulder (theorbo), Eduardo L�pez Banzo (conductor & harpsichord)