A Singer's Manual of Spanish Lyric Diction

Rating:
Summary: An absolute essential for Spanish Diction
Review: As a pianist and coach for Western Canadian opera companies and Universities I can absolutely recommend this volume as essential for every singer and coach interested in pursuing Spanish repertoire. Nico Castel is an amazing artist with a remarkable facility for languages and a gift for communicating his knowledge. This book, utilizing the International Phonetic Alphabet, is ideal for singers attempting Spanish repertoire for the first time, and for those experienced in the language and genre.

Rating:
Summary: An absolute essential for Spanish Diction
Review: As a pianist and coach for Western Canadian opera companies and Universities I can absolutely recommend this volume as essential for every singer and coach interested in pursuing Spanish repertoire. Nico Castel is an amazing artist with a remarkable facility for languages and a gift for communicating his knowledge. This book, utilizing the International Phonetic Alphabet, is ideal for singers attempting Spanish repertoire for the first time, and for those experienced in the language and genre.

Rating:
Summary: A absolute must for Spanish Diction
Review: As a pianist and coach for Western Canadian Opera companies and Universities, I consider Nico Castel's book to be an absolute must for those considering Spanish repertoire. Nico Castel has a unique knowledge of languages and a remarkable gift for communication. Utilizing the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), this volume is ideal for singers and coaches beginning to work with Spanish repertoire, or for those already familiar with the language and genre. I recommend it very highly.

Rating:
Summary: A absolute must for Spanish Diction
Review: As a pianist and coach for Western Canadian Opera companies and Universities, I consider Nico Castel's book to be an absolute must for those considering Spanish repertoire. Nico Castel has a unique knowledge of languages and a remarkable gift for communication. Utilizing the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), this volume is ideal for singers and coaches beginning to work with Spanish repertoire, or for those already familiar with the language and genre. I recommend it very highly.

Rating:
Summary: Quite good
Review: I have found this manual to be quite good, which is convenient since there is practically nothing else out there for Spanish singing that I know of. Castel's book provides quick-reference as well as detailed guides to pronouncing Spanish, and he gives good coverage of Spanish variants that one may come across. The repertoire suggestions are handy as well. About the only thing I can think of to improve the edition would be a CD with audio samples of the various sounds, since there are some that are indigenous to Castilian Spanish. This of course would drive up the price, but I think it'd be worth it since most people purchasing this book *genuinely* want to sing well in Spanish.