A Concert by Singer, Armando Prada

Thanks to our friend, Mila Garcia, we heard this remarkable singer in concert last night at the Escalapios (where a lot of concerts take place in Monforte.) He sets to music poetry by Galician poets and then sings and plays the accompaniment.

You can go to YouTube (link here) for a sample of his singing but click to midway, as at first he starts off quoting the poetry and giving some background to it — all in Galegan or Castiliano — so unless you are fluent in either, you won't understand. (Although, his speaking voice is mesmerizing and is a true storyteller's voice. It can pull you in, anyway.) 

But do click to halfway through to hear his singing. 

This particular song — from a poem by Rosalia de Castro, a 19th century Galician poetess — is one he sang last night. 

He also sang two beautiful songs taken from poems by Federico García Lorca. One that especially moved me translates as "Nocturne for a Dead Youth".

We bought a CD for him to autograph, which we did very graciously.

The whole CD is of poems by Rosalia de Castro, and the songs are very haunting. She was born (and died) in Santiago de Compostela, so is definitely the poet for the area, although she is famous in Spain and worldwide.

I would love to post a picture of her, but am nervous about copyright in the US, so I will direct you to two sites that have pictures of her, one of which also has samples of her beautiful poetry.

The poetry site:

Wikipedia (which has a really good picture)

Do you like music from other countries? Do you prefer singing or instrumental? Who is one of your favorite artists?

All Roads Lead to . . . . Santiago. The Santiago Connection.

Santiago Cathedral, photo by my husband

     I am visiting my nephew and his family in France. Their home is just on the edge of the small village of Moisin, about 20 minutes away from Geneva. I'm able to make this visit because I had mileage with United—miles I had to use before October 31st or lose

 

The Alps from the French side (my photo)

them.          

As it turns out, a small chapel at the top of a hill in the village of Moisin is one of the pilgrim stops for pilgrims walking to Santiago de Compostela. A road edging the village has the familiar clam shell icon that signifies St. James and the pilgrim's road. I must say, having looked at similar sign posts on roads in Galicia less than a month ago, I was quite moved by this connection.

The road (el camino) runs right through the village of Moisin, where my nephew lives. 

     I was also pleased to find out earlier this year that Martin Sheen (one of my favorite actors) has a personal link to Galicia. His father came from Galicia, near Santiago. Sheen's real name is Ramon Estevez, and he's made a movie with his director son, Emilio Estevez, called The Way. It's a fictional tale that takes place on a pilgrimage (often called El Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James). I am so looking forward to seeing this movie. 


     I'm not sure exactly where the French pilgrimage begins, just as I'm not quite sure where the pilgrimage in Portugal starts. Obviously there are more roads, and I'll be interested to find out how many more countries have a pilgrimage walk to Santiago. Meanwhile, tomorrow I plant to wander up the hill to the chapel where pilgrims walking this leg of the journey stop. And, who knows, one day I might actually go on the walk myself, or at least a portion of it.