Paredes: Cuerdas del destino

Mexican-born composer Hilda Paredes, now living in England, does not, for all that, disown her roots.Born in Tehuacán, in Puebla State, she engages critically the multiple Mexican, indigenous and folk cultures, closely combining the imaginary and the political, all in remarkably precise and refined writing.She likes working the voice in all its expressivity, here that of countertenor Jake Arditti.There is no ‘Mexican-ness’ with Ms. Paredes, in the sense of that stereotyped colorful sensuality, but rather a close relation to the poetic speech of Mexico and the European avant-garde.