La canción de la semana #993

Wow I am impressed: Rosalía's Lux made it to No. 1 (!) in The Guardian's list of the 50 best — mostly anglophone — albums of 2025. Mostly — but not completely. At No. 8 we encounter Bad Bunny with Debí Tirar Más Fotos. More interestingly, at No. 24 there is gloriously experimental Hagen by Titanic, a duo of Mabe Fratti and Héctor Tosta aka I. La Católica. Good choice, The Guardian. So, the last song of the year is, IMHO, the best song of the album, La Dueña. See you in 2026!

La canción de la semana #992

...is Ave Maria often (mis)attributed to Giulio Caccini (1551—1618). In fact it was composed by the Soviet musician Vladimir Vavilov (1925—1973) and first appeared on his 1970 LP «Лютневая музыка XVI—XVII вв.» (Lute music of the 16th–17th centuries)^*. There, Ave Maria was performed by Nadezhda Vainer (vocal), Mark Shakhin (organ), and Vavilov himself (lute) and was ascribed to a "16th-century anonymous author". In 1975, Ave Maria appeared on the album Старинные Арии by Irina Bogacheva where it was attributed to Caccini.

Since then, the aria became enormously popular and has been performed by artists such as Irina Arkhipova, Sumi Jo, Andrea Bocelli, Julian Lloyd Webber, Libera, KOKIA, Amira Willighagen... I leave you with the instrumental version by Oiasso Kamerata (Irún, Spain) featuring Rebekka Riedel (cello).

*	This record was a brilliant musical mystification: apart from Greensleeves and Galliard, all the tracks were composed by Vavilov. For example, the opener, Canzona, was ascribed to Francesco da Milano (1497—1543). In the 1980s, this song, as «Город золотой», with lyrics by Alexei Khvostenko and Anri Volokhonsky, was recorded by Aquarium and became one of their biggest hits.

La canción de la semana #991

...is Cançó No. 6 (Canción No. 6) by the Catalan composer Federico Mompou, from the cycle Cançons i danses. Originally written for piano, it was a favourite encore of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. This song appears in the 1976 film Cría Cuervos by Carlos Saura. I liked the classical guitar version as played by the Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe in the recent (12 December 2025) Tiny Desk Concert.

La canción de la semana #990

...is Aquel Zuliano by Renato Aguirre, made famous by Ricardo Cepeda. Here's a version by Eliana Cuevas and Aquiles Báez, from the duo's 2021 album El Curruchá.

La canción de la semana #989

...is Tango Negro by Le Collectif Tango Negro Ensemble featuring Marcelo Russillo. This song appears on the double album Tribute to Juan Carlos Cáceres recorded in Argentina, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey between 2020 and 2023. I learned about this project thanks to the Songlines review.

La canción de la semana #988

...is Aurora by Cantos de Río, from the Colombian band's EP Celebra la vida. Check out their live performance at Sesiones Detonante in Quibdó.

La canción de la semana #987

I don't think Rosalía needs any promotion on this blog, but still, I can't possibly ignore her latest album, Lux. My favourite — and the least over-the-top — song there is Memória, a fado composed and performed by Carminho and Rosalía.

La canción de la semana #986

...is La Huella del Códice, based on works by Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739) and performed by Berta Rojas with Evangelina Mascardi and Lincoln Almada. This composition appears on the Paraguayan guitarist's new album, La Huella de las Cuerdas. And if you have 33 minutes to spare, watch the "making of" documentary by the same name.

Berta Rojas: guitar Evangelina Mascardi: vihuela / baroque guitar Lincoln Almada: percussion

La canción de la semana #985

...is Itziarren semea, a 1975 song by the Basque duo Pantxoa eta Peio on the lyrics by Telesforo Monzón. I first heard this song in the recent concert of Jumelage & Familia Euskaló.

La canción de la semana #984

...is Guardaespaldas by Melanie Santiler. I discovered this Cuban singer thanks to El Gao Sessions; the beautiful version of this song opens Melanie's recent concert (26 September 2025).

Melanie Santiler: vocals Lázaro Peña: piano Kevin Figueredo: trumpet