Songs from the South

Those who have seen him in action in Dublin will know that Jose Cura is not a man to square his shoulders, clutch his lapels and deliver, by way of a solo debut offering, "Your 10 All-Time Favourite Tenor Arias". On the other hand, an album of totally unfamiliar Argentinian music without, for goodness' sake, a single gaucho in sight? Has the man taken leave of his senses? Well, no. But what he has done is assemble a group of extremely capable musicians, led by the pianist Eduardo Delgado and the guitarist Ernesto Biteti and present them with a cleverly-chosen programme, arranged, conducted and - in the case of the first and last tracks, composed - by himself. Oh, yes, and he sings, too, the familiar soaring tenor modulated, as often as not - the Spanish word anhelo translates as "a desire so intense that it suffocates" - to a heartbreaking gentleness. This is a classy production; the wistful, whimsical lyrics of these featherlight songs are by the greatest of Spanish-language poets - Neruda, Alberti, Quevedo - the instrumentals are crisp and clean and the original compositions, a three-minute instrumental prelude and settings of two of Neruda's Sonetos de Amor y Muerte (Sonnets of Love and Death) catch the mood of tender melancholy to perfection. Gorgeous from start to finish, this album is the coolest thing to come out of Argentina since - oh, since Ariel Ortega's two goals against Jamaica in the World Cup.