Up to the present, when the 75 th anniversary of the premiere of the original concerto will be celebrated, the pop version of Concierto de Aranjuez, whose recognized title in Spanish is En Aranjuez con tu amor, is considered a pop classic. New versions in the most wide-ranging styles and diverse languages are constantly appearing on the market, making it a true classic.
The pop version of the famous melody of the second movement, Adagio.
In the decade of the nineteen sixties, in circumstances totally unrelated to the composer, whose consent was neves requested, a series of recordings of the Adagio were produced in versions quite different from the original one. The first one was most probably the historic recording by Miles Davis in 1960, in an album called Sketches of Spain, under its original title Concierto de Aranjuez on the Columbia label. In 1967, the song version appeared, under the title Aranjuez, mon amour, a creation of the French singer Richard Anthony.
These versions caused the composer great displeasure and distress as he did not agree to the transformation of his work which he considered a violation of moral rights. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife tried to stop the recordings from being released and spreading. Bur it was useless; the more he tried to block them, the faster they spread and sales increased. In the end, the composer resigned himself to accept the fact that the pop versions reached a far greater public than that of classical music concertgoers, and led to much wider recognition of the original classical concerto for guitar and orchestra, Concierto de Aranjuez. Since that time, the concerto has become part of the universal repertoire for orchestras and guitarists, and is one of the contemporary works most performed throughout the world.
Cover of the LP 'Sketches of Spain', by Miles Davis (1960).
Cover of the single 'Aranjuez, mon amour', by Richard Anthony (1967).
'He wants to know if we can do something similar to 'Aranjuez, mon amour' with his Fifth Symphony' (Tono, 1967).
In 1967, the first song version was produced and launched on the French market by Richard Anthony, under the title Aranjuez, mon amour, with lyrics in French. The song rapidly became a bestseller at the international level. Pop stars of the moment rivalled in bringing our their own version, and the theme was sung in a wide variety of languages.
As an anecdote, among the popular stars who performed the song was the French film actress Brigitte Bardot and a long list of famous faces including Dalida, Demis Rousos, Nana Mouskouri, Lola Flores, Amalia Rodrigues, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Montserrat Caballé...
The composer felt overwhelmed by the extraordinary popularity of the theme and was swamped by publishers and agents from all over the world who wanted rights to publish the pop version. The international press wrote about it and the following cartoon apeared in the Spanish press (1/12/1967).
Outsanding Pop Versions starting from the nineteen sixties:
|
Miles Davis |
Richard Anthony - Aranjuez, mon amour (1967) |
Dalida Aranjuez, la tua voce |
||
| Demis Roussos Follow me |
The Modern Jazz Quartet With Laurindo de Almeida |
Jim Hall | ||
| Amalia Rodrigues | Miguel Ríos | James Last and his Orchestra | ||
| The Boston Feelings Orchestra | Jean Christian Michel | Chick Corea, jazz version (Spain) | ||
| Al Jarreau |
Lola Flores |
Frank Pourcel | ||
| Jean François Mauroic | Massimo Ranieri (Véalo en nuestro canal YouTube) |
Fairuz | ||
| Manuel & The Music of the Mountains | José Feliciano (Véalo en nuestro canal YouTube) |
Nana Mouskouri | ||
| The Swingle Singers | Stevie Wonder | Carlos Santana | ||
| Dyango | Maurice André | Paloma San Basilio | ||
| Paul Mauriat (Classic) | Sarah Brightman | Waldo de los Ríos | ||
| Helmut Lotti | Herb Alpert | The Shadows | ||
| Arielle Dombasle | Il Divo & Sarah Brightman (Véalo en nuestro canal YouTube) |
Andrea Bocelli | ||
| Katherine Jenkins | Summer | Jan D. Dvorsky | ||
| The Planets | Casiopea and Jimsaku (jazz) | Rita | ||
| John Paul Jones (instrumental) | Isao Tomita (electronic version) | Leo Brouwer, Chucho Valdés y Trakere (jazz) | ||
| Chris Botty | Victoria Gydov | Larry Adler (armónica) | ||
| Plácido Domingo | Montserrat Caballé | Ana María Martínez | ||
| Carlos Núñez (gaita) | James Galway (flauta) | Hosu Senlendirici (clarinete) | ||
| Jake Shimabufuro (Dragón) (ukelele) | Myrna Chaker (mix) | Bebo Valdés y El Cigala | ||
| David Garret (violín) | The Ten Tenors (Los diez tenores) (Véalo en nuestro canal YouTube) |
Gypsy Flamenco Masters | ||
| Samsung Chill out Sessions (flamenco) | André Rieu | Masafumi Akikawa | ||
| Gloria Laso | La Mala | José Carreras | ||
| Fernando Lima | Café del Mar | Coma feat (Instrumental mix) | ||
| Sax Chill out | Ikuko Kawai (violín) | Baster Williams (bajo |