1955
Voices Of The Xtabay
Yma Sumac
Capitol DW 684 ("Duophonic" reissue)
1955
From the back cover: It is no exaggeration to say that Yma Sumac possesses the most extraordinary voice of our time. If it were but a vocal instrument it would still be exciting, but this beautiful Inca princess plays her fabulous four-octave range with such a variety of emotional attitudes and tonal color that the result is a unique and spellbinding experience.
Born high in the Peruvian Andes, a descendant of the last of the Incan Kings, Yma Sumac spent her childhood literally "talking" with the birds, the beasts, the winds, the sounds of life and nature surrounding the little village of Ichocan.
While still a small girl she began taking part in the religious pageants and service of the sun-worshipping Indians and became almost deified by them. Word of her phenomenal vocal powers reached Lima, the Peruvian capital, and an official government delegation travelled into this remote mountain region to see and hear what they secretly believed to be a myth. Yma Sumac was real, however, and a few years later she was in Lima, studying, singing, maturing, becoming Peru's precious gift to the world.
A member of that original delegation was Moises Vivanco, a young composer and authority on Incan music, who fell in love with a voice and later fell in love with the young woman herself. He is now Yma Sumac's husband, manager, conductor, arranger, a gifted musical figure in his own right and an essential complement to his wife's vocal artistry.
The scope of Yma Sumac's performance widened from Peru, throughout South America, eventually throughout the world. But is was not a career of direct, soaring success. Her revered position in Peru meant little to the audiences and booking agents of the United States who, at first, regarded her as little more than a novelty. As a result, she and Vivanco played one-night stands, a resort in the Catskills' "borscht belt," even a New York delicatessen. Sometimes, luckily there would be a break in the bad luck and they would have an engagement at a smart club like the "Blue Angel" or appear on a nationwide television show.
It wasn't until 1950, however, that Yma Sumac "arrived." She gave a concert at the famed Hollywood Bowl and her impact on the audience was so startling that the wire services carried the news of her triumph all over the world. Then, a few weeks later, her first Capitol album was released and it became the sensation of the record industry, a best-seller by virtue of an unprecedented word-of-mouth campaign.
Yma Sumac was suddenly an international celebrity, in world-wide demand, so she began a series of concert tours that carried her from continent to continent, singing to hundreds of thousands, eliciting frenzied and demeanor as strikingly beautiful as her heralded voice, Yma Sumac was at last fulfilling her destiny.
There is no voice like it in the world of music today," said Glenn Dillard Gunn of the Washington Times-Hearld. "It has a greater range than any female voice of concert or opera. It soars into the acoustic stratosphere, or it plumbs sub-contralto depths of pitch with equal ease. Such voices happen only once in a generation.
In Buenos Aires, La Prensa said, "The greatest musical revelation of our times."
Jarmila Novotna, the Metropolitan Opera's great soprano, called Yma Sumac's voice "about the most exciting I've ever heard."
A New York teen-ager said, "When I listen to her I feel like I'm dreaming, like I'm in another world."
Voice Of The Extaby
Taita Inty (Virgin Of The Sun God)
Ataypura I (High Andes)
Accla Taqui (Chant Of The Chosen Maidens)
Tumpa (Earthquake)
Choladas (Dance Of The Moon Festival)
Wayra (Dance Of The Winds)
Monos (Monkeys)
Xtabay (Lure Of The Unknown Love)
Inca Taqui - Chants Of The Incans
K'arawi (Planting Song)
Cumbe-Maita (Calls Of The Andes)
Wak'ai (Cry)
Incacho (Royal Anthem)
Chuncho (The Forest Creatures)
Llulla Mak'ta (Andean Don Juan)
Malaya! (My Destiny)
Ripui (Farewell)
