Asturiana - Songs from Spain an Argentina offers a fascinating overview of different idioms in Spanish and Argentine songs from early 20th century composers such as De Falla, Granados, Ginastera, Gustavino, Montsalvatge and others. Spanish songs lend themselves particularly well to instrumental transcription due to their frequent foundation in folk and popular styles of song and dance. Their melodic beauty and rhythmic energy create an intense atmosphere of tenderness and nostalgia with sudden outbursts of vitality - a most evocative music that doesn't seem to call for any verbal emphasis. Kim Kashkashian's and Robert Levin's duo, dating back to the mid-seventies, is a rare phenomenon of true musical partnership. It can be observed particularly well in their numerous ECM productions which, after the first album "Elegies" (1986), have included works by Schumann, Brahms, Hindemith, Shostakovich and other composers. The difference of their two musical approaches - Kashkashian's lyricism and love for the melodic line combined with Levin's strong interest in structure and stylistic considerations - is a main reason that this collaboration has been so fruitful. In fact, Asturiana demonstrates an extraordinary degree of freedom and flexibility, both rhythmically and sonically.