Romances
Encyclopedia
Romances is the fifteenth studio album
by Mexican singer Luis Miguel
, released on August 12, 1997, by Warner Music Latina
. It is the third album of the Romance series, in which Miguel covers Latin songs from 1940 to 1978. Aside from Miguel, the production also involved Bebu Silvetti
, who handled the arrangements, and Armando Manzanero
, who directed all of Miguel's Romance albums. Romances consists of twelve cover version
s and two new compositions by Manzanero and Silvetti. Recording took place in early 1997 at the Ocean Way Recording studio in Los Angeles, California.
Romances has sold over 4.5 million copies and received platinum certifications in several Latin American countries, the United States, and Spain. A tour to promote the album took place in the United States, Latin America, and Spain. The album was generally well-received by critics, who praised Miguel's vocals as well as the song selection. The album earned Miguel several awards, including a Grammy Award
in the United States. Six singles were released: "Por debajo de la mesa
", "El reloj", "Contigo (estar contigo)", "De quererte asi (De t'avoir aimee)", "Bésame mucho
", and "Sabor a mi".
genre. It also made history as the first Spanish-language album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) in the United States. A follow-up to Romance was released in 1994 under the title Segundo Romance
(Second Romance), which was produced by Miguel, Juan Carlos Calderón and Kiko Cibrian. Both albums received a platinum certification by the RIAA in the United States and also became successful in countries outside of Latin America and the United States, such as Finland and Saudi Arabia
, selling over twelve million copies combined.
In December 1996 Miguel held a press conference in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, where he announced his desire to record a third Romance album and the possibility of working with Manzanero and Juan Gabriel
. He also expressed an interest in singing in Italian and Portuguese, although the album's songs are originally all in Spanish. Two months later Manzanero confirmed that he was working with Miguel on another bolero-inspired ballads album, under the tentative title Tercer Romance ("Third Romance"). Miguel's record label confirmed that fourteen tracks would be included on the album under the title Romances.
Miguel covers twelve Latin ballads in Romances, including songs by José Antonio Mendez, Carlos Arturo Briz, Consuelo Velázquez
Álvaro Carrillo
, Roberto Cantoral
, María Grever
, Enrique Santos Discepolo, Agustín Lara
, and Luiz Bonfá
. The latter composer wrote the song "Manha do carnavel" ("Morning of Carnival") in Portuguese, and it was later translated into Spanish by Jesus Maria Arozamena Bersategui as "Cancion de Orfeo" ("Orpheus's Song"). "De quererte asi" ("If I Love You Like This") is a French song, originally performed and written by Charles Aznavour
, which was translated into Spanish by Alex Marcoriginates. Miguel had covered some of the aforementioned composer's songs on his previous Romance albums. Miguel covers Manazero's songs "Voy a apagar la luz/Contigo aprendi" ("I Am Going To Turn Off The Lights/With You I Learned") and "Amanecer" ("To Be Awake"). Two original compositions were made for the album: "Por debajo de la mesa" ("Underneath the Table") was composed by Manzanero and "Contigo (estar contigo)" ("To Be With You") was composed by Bebu Silvetti and Sylvia Riera Ibañez.
in Hollywood and The Hit Factory
in New York City. Additional mixing
was done in the Ocean Way Recording studio. In the recording of Romances, as in the previous Miguel album Romance, Silvetti made use of his own style of arrangements known as the "Silvetti Sound"; which Leila Cobo of Billboard
describes as "anchored in sweeping melodies, lush string arrangements, acoustic instrumentation, and above all, unabashed romanticism." The success of Romance had encouraged Silvetti to produce Latin ballads for artists such as Marco Antonio Solís
, Ricardo Montaner
, and Rocío Dúrcal
. Silvetti has stated that when he produces an album he does not simply copy his arrangements, because he feels that would be "ridiculous", and prefers to be creative within his own style. About the selection of songs for the album, Manzanero stated that "I give him the songs, and he chooses what he wants to record." Participants in the recording sessions included sixty-one musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic
.
chart, it was even more successful, having been number one for 13 weeks. On the Billboard 200
chart it peaked at number fourteen, with sales of over 57,000 units within the first week—a record at that time for a Spanish-language album. It was also Miguel's highest-peaking album in the Billboard 200 until the release of Complices
in 2008, which peaked at number ten. It was the second best-selling Latin album in the United States during 1997, after Tango
by Julio Iglesias
. By October 1997 it had sold over a million copies in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country, as well as across Central America. A year after release it received a platinum certification in the United States by the RIAA. In Argentina it reached number one on the CAPIF albums chart and was the best-selling album of 1997 in the country, with sales of approximately 781,000 copies. In Spain the album reached number one on the PROMUSICAE
chart and was certified quintuple platinum, selling over 800,000 copies. In South America the album was certified gold in Brazil, platinum in Ecuador and Peru, double platinum in Colombia and Paraguay, sextuple platinum in Venezuela, octuple platinum in Chile, and diamond in Argentina. According to the Guinness World Records
Romances was the best-selling Spanish-language album of 1997. A DVD Audio for the album was released in 2001. Over 4.5 million copies of the album were sold, as of 1999.
from the album. The single was released by radio airplay on July 15, 1997, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs
chart two months later; it would spend twenty-six weeks on the chart. A music video
was made for the song. The second single released, "El reloj" ("The Clock"), reached number two on the Hot Latin Songs chart, as did the third single, "Contigo (estar contigo"). "De quererte asi (De t'avoir aimee)" peaked at number twenty-three on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while "Sabor a mi" ("Taste From Me") peaked at number six after its release. All of the singles, including "Bésame mucho" ("Kiss Me More"), were number one on radio stations across Latin America.
, consisting of 84 concerts, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 12, 1997. The performances featured Miguel performing dance-pop and bolero arrangements for two-and-a-half hours in each show. Adam Sandler of Variety
expressed a mixed reaction to the concert in the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California. He noted that Miguel rarely acknowledged his audience or ventured out from the center stage. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times
had a more positive reaction to the concert, which he described as a "marvelously designed and wonderfully executed blend of Latin music tradition". Another contributor to the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner, wrote that Miguel's bolero performance at the Arrowhead Pond
arena in California "brought the house down" and stated that the experience at the concert was "pretty close" to Beatlemania
. In New York City, Miguel performed five consecutive shows in the Radio City Music Hall
. In Mexico City
he performed seventeen consecutive concerts in the National Auditorium
, where it was the highest-grossing concert by a Latin artist that year. The tour also traveled to South America; including Chile
, Argentina, and Peru
and continued until May 1998, when Miguel performed throughout Spain. Miguel was the first Latin artist to be inducted to the Pollstar "Top 20 All-Time Grossing Tours" for most tickets sold for consecutive concerts at one venue in 1997.
of the Chicago Tribune
called Miguel's voice the strong point of the album and noted the "presence of electronic instruments and the darker, more somber mood". On the other hand, she felt that Miguel was beginning "to slip", citing the tracks "Jurame" and "Por Debajo De La Mesa" as examples. Ernesto Lecnher of the Los Angeles Times
was more critical of the album and gave it one-and-a-half out of four stars. Fellow Los Angeles Times contributor Ed Morales disagreed with his review and wrote that "Lechner needs to go into his music room, turn down the lights, snuggle up with his significant other and really listen to 'Romances.' I give his review * and 'Romances' ****" . Anne Valdespino of the Los Angeles Daily News
praised the selection of songs and Miguel's performance, calling the performer a "class act".
At the 40th Grammy Awards, Miguel received the award for Best Latin Pop Performance. Miguel also received a Billboard Latin Music Award
for "Male Pop Album of the Year" and a World Music Award
for "Best Selling Latin Artist".
Miguel received a Premio Amigo and Premio Onda for "Best Latin Singer of the Year" in Spain, and the album was nominated for a Premio Amigo for "Best Latin Album". Armando Manzanero received a Broadcast Music Incorporated
award for his work on "Por Debajo De La Mesa".
titled Todos los romances
("All The Romances") in 1998, which contains all the tracks from Miguel's Romance albums. The album peaked at number twelve in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and at number six in the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart It was certified gold in Argentina. In 2001 Miguel released a fourth album, covering Latin ballads, titled Mis romances
("My Romances"). The album peaked at number 115 in the Billboard 200, number two in the Billboard Top Latin Albums, number five in Spain, and number one in the Billboard Latin Pop Albums in Argentina. It was certified gold in Brazil, double platinum in Argentina, and quadruple platinum in the United States and Mexico.
Cello
Viola
Violin
Vocals
For "La gloria eres tu":
For "Bésame Mucho":
Miscellaneous
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Mexican singer Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel and is often referred to as "El Sol de México"...
, released on August 12, 1997, by Warner Music Latina
Warner Music Latina
Warner Music Latina is a record label part of Warner Music Group that focuses on Latin music.-List of artists on Warner Music Latina:*Ahora*Airbag*Alejandro Sanz*Alex Ubago*Andres Calamaro*Bacilos*Banda Machos*Basse*Buika*Calo*Canteca De Macao...
. It is the third album of the Romance series, in which Miguel covers Latin songs from 1940 to 1978. Aside from Miguel, the production also involved Bebu Silvetti
Bebu Silvetti
Juan Fernando Silvetti Adorno , professionally known as Bebu Silvetti or simply Silvetti, was an Argentine pianist, composer, conductor, arranger and record producer...
, who handled the arrangements, and Armando Manzanero
Armando Manzanero
Armando Manzanero Canché is a Mexican musician and composer of Maya descent, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America....
, who directed all of Miguel's Romance albums. Romances consists of twelve cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s and two new compositions by Manzanero and Silvetti. Recording took place in early 1997 at the Ocean Way Recording studio in Los Angeles, California.
Romances has sold over 4.5 million copies and received platinum certifications in several Latin American countries, the United States, and Spain. A tour to promote the album took place in the United States, Latin America, and Spain. The album was generally well-received by critics, who praised Miguel's vocals as well as the song selection. The album earned Miguel several awards, including a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the United States. Six singles were released: "Por debajo de la mesa
Por Debajo de la Mesa
"Por Debajo De La Mesa" is a ballad written by Armando Manzanero, arranged by Bebu Silvetti and performed by Mexican singer Luis Miguel...
", "El reloj", "Contigo (estar contigo)", "De quererte asi (De t'avoir aimee)", "Bésame mucho
Bésame Mucho
"Bésame Mucho" is a Spanish language song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez.-Inspiration:According to Velázquez herself, she wrote this song even though she had never been kissed yet at the time, and kissing as she heard was considered a sin.She was inspired by the piano...
", and "Sabor a mi".
Background
In 1991 Miguel released Romance, a collection of classic Latin ballads, the oldest of which dates back to the 1940s. The album was produced by Armando Manzanero and arranged by Bebu Silvetti, and was credited for revitalizing the boleroBolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
genre. It also made history as the first Spanish-language album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) in the United States. A follow-up to Romance was released in 1994 under the title Segundo Romance
Segundo Romance
Segundo Romance is the 13th studio album released by Mexican singer Luis Miguel on August 30, 1994 by Warner Music Group. The album was produced by Miguel himself and co-produced by Armando Manzanero, Juan Carlos Calderón, and Kiko Cibrian...
(Second Romance), which was produced by Miguel, Juan Carlos Calderón and Kiko Cibrian. Both albums received a platinum certification by the RIAA in the United States and also became successful in countries outside of Latin America and the United States, such as Finland and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, selling over twelve million copies combined.
In December 1996 Miguel held a press conference in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, where he announced his desire to record a third Romance album and the possibility of working with Manzanero and Juan Gabriel
Juan Gabriel
Alberto Aguilera Valadez , better known by his stage name Juan Gabriel , is a Mexican singer and songwriter who is one of the most famous living representatives of the Mexican ranchera, ballad, mariachi, and pop music....
. He also expressed an interest in singing in Italian and Portuguese, although the album's songs are originally all in Spanish. Two months later Manzanero confirmed that he was working with Miguel on another bolero-inspired ballads album, under the tentative title Tercer Romance ("Third Romance"). Miguel's record label confirmed that fourteen tracks would be included on the album under the title Romances.
Miguel covers twelve Latin ballads in Romances, including songs by José Antonio Mendez, Carlos Arturo Briz, Consuelo Velázquez
Consuelo Velázquez
Consuelo Velázquez was a Mexican concert pianist, songwriter and recording artist.According to her obituary, she was 88 years old when she died...
Álvaro Carrillo
Álvaro Carrillo
Álvaro Carrillo Alarcón was a Mexican popular music composer born in San Juan Cacahuatepec, Oaxaca, on 2 December 1921, who died in a car accident on 3 April 1969...
, Roberto Cantoral
Roberto Cantoral
Roberto Cantoral Garcia was a Mexican composer, singer and songwriter. He was known for composing a string of hit Mexican songs, including El Triste, Al Final, La Barca and El Reloj...
, María Grever
María Grever
María Grever was the first Mexican female musician to become a successful composer.Maria Joaquina de la Portilla Torres was born to a Spanish father and Mexican mother in Mexico. After spending much of her childhood in Spain, she returned with her parents to Mexico at the age of 12. She studied...
, Enrique Santos Discepolo, Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara
Agustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...
, and Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Bonfá
Luiz Floriano Bonfá was a Brazilian guitarist and composer best known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus.-Biography:...
. The latter composer wrote the song "Manha do carnavel" ("Morning of Carnival") in Portuguese, and it was later translated into Spanish by Jesus Maria Arozamena Bersategui as "Cancion de Orfeo" ("Orpheus's Song"). "De quererte asi" ("If I Love You Like This") is a French song, originally performed and written by Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, OC is an Armenian-French singer, songwriter, actor, public activist and diplomat. Besides being one of France's most popular and enduring singers, he is also one of the best-known singers in the world...
, which was translated into Spanish by Alex Marcoriginates. Miguel had covered some of the aforementioned composer's songs on his previous Romance albums. Miguel covers Manazero's songs "Voy a apagar la luz/Contigo aprendi" ("I Am Going To Turn Off The Lights/With You I Learned") and "Amanecer" ("To Be Awake"). Two original compositions were made for the album: "Por debajo de la mesa" ("Underneath the Table") was composed by Manzanero and "Contigo (estar contigo)" ("To Be With You") was composed by Bebu Silvetti and Sylvia Riera Ibañez.
Recording and production
Miguel collaborated with Silvetti for the arrangement of Romances, while Manzanero was in charge of the direction. Recording for the album began on March 18, 1997, at Ocean Way RecordingOcean Way Recording
Ocean Way Recording is the name of a series of recording studios in Hollywood, California and Nashville, Tennessee. Ocean Way Studios is well known in the recording industry due to the award-winning albums that were produced there....
in Hollywood and The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory
The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele. It was officially closed for business April 1, 2005 whereas other Hit Factory studio locations remained open, such as in Miami, Florida.-History:...
in New York City. Additional mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
was done in the Ocean Way Recording studio. In the recording of Romances, as in the previous Miguel album Romance, Silvetti made use of his own style of arrangements known as the "Silvetti Sound"; which Leila Cobo of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
describes as "anchored in sweeping melodies, lush string arrangements, acoustic instrumentation, and above all, unabashed romanticism." The success of Romance had encouraged Silvetti to produce Latin ballads for artists such as Marco Antonio Solís
Marco Antonio Solís
Marco Antonio Solís is a Mexican musician, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has sold over 80 million records and written over 300 songs, arguably making him one of the most successful singer-songwriters in Latin America.-Early life and career:Marco Antonio Solís started his...
, Ricardo Montaner
Ricardo Montaner
Ricardo Montaner is an Argentine-Venezuelan singer and songwriter. Starting his career in the early 80s, he has already released more than 15 albums with numerous successful singles and has sold over 22 million record worldwide.-Early years:Montaner was born as Héctor Eduardo Reglero Montaner, in...
, and Rocío Dúrcal
Rocío Dúrcal
Rocío Dúrcal , born as María de los Ángeles de Las Heras Ortíz, was a Spanish singer and actress, known artistically as Rocío Durcal. Spanish is the best selling solo albums with more than 80 million to date...
. Silvetti has stated that when he produces an album he does not simply copy his arrangements, because he feels that would be "ridiculous", and prefers to be creative within his own style. About the selection of songs for the album, Manzanero stated that "I give him the songs, and he chooses what he wants to record." Participants in the recording sessions included sixty-one musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
.
Album
The album was released on August 12, 1997, in the United States and, by the week of August 23, 1997, it debuted at number two on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. A week later it became number one, which it has been for a total of eleven non-consecutive weeks. In the Billboard Latin Pop AlbumsLatin Pop Albums
Latin Pop Albums is a record chart published on Billboard magazine. It features Latin music information of the Pop music genre. Established in June 1985, this chart features only full length albums and like all album charts on Billboard, is based on sales. The information is compiled by Nielsen...
chart, it was even more successful, having been number one for 13 weeks. On the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart it peaked at number fourteen, with sales of over 57,000 units within the first week—a record at that time for a Spanish-language album. It was also Miguel's highest-peaking album in the Billboard 200 until the release of Complices
Cómplices
- Tour :Complices Tour was a concert tour by the Mexican singer Luis Miguel to promote his last album Cómplices. On this tour, Luis Miguel performed his last pop and ballad songs, his Mexican songs, and also his back-catalogue...
in 2008, which peaked at number ten. It was the second best-selling Latin album in the United States during 1997, after Tango
Tango (Julio Iglesias album)
-Chart performance:-Sales and certifications:-See also:*List of number-one Billboard Top Latin Albums from the 1990s*List of best-selling Latin albums in the United States...
by Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...
. By October 1997 it had sold over a million copies in Mexico and was certified quadruple platinum in the country, as well as across Central America. A year after release it received a platinum certification in the United States by the RIAA. In Argentina it reached number one on the CAPIF albums chart and was the best-selling album of 1997 in the country, with sales of approximately 781,000 copies. In Spain the album reached number one on the PROMUSICAE
PROMUSICAE
Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry...
chart and was certified quintuple platinum, selling over 800,000 copies. In South America the album was certified gold in Brazil, platinum in Ecuador and Peru, double platinum in Colombia and Paraguay, sextuple platinum in Venezuela, octuple platinum in Chile, and diamond in Argentina. According to the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
Romances was the best-selling Spanish-language album of 1997. A DVD Audio for the album was released in 2001. Over 4.5 million copies of the album were sold, as of 1999.
Singles
"Por debajo de la mesa" was released as the lead singleLead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
from the album. The single was released by radio airplay on July 15, 1997, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs
Hot Latin Songs
Hot Latin Songs is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. It is often recognized as the most important music chart for Spanish language Latin music in the American music market. It was established by the magazine on September 6, 1986 with La Guirnalda by Rocío Dúrcal being the first song...
chart two months later; it would spend twenty-six weeks on the chart. A music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was made for the song. The second single released, "El reloj" ("The Clock"), reached number two on the Hot Latin Songs chart, as did the third single, "Contigo (estar contigo"). "De quererte asi (De t'avoir aimee)" peaked at number twenty-three on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while "Sabor a mi" ("Taste From Me") peaked at number six after its release. All of the singles, including "Bésame mucho" ("Kiss Me More"), were number one on radio stations across Latin America.
Promotion
Miguel launched his Romances TourRomances Tour
-Tour dates:*The second Santiago show was fully recorded for its transmission in Chile by UC13.**The second Buenos Aires show was fully recorded for its transmission in Argentina by Canal 13.-Box office score data:-Band:*Vocals: Luis Miguel...
, consisting of 84 concerts, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 12, 1997. The performances featured Miguel performing dance-pop and bolero arrangements for two-and-a-half hours in each show. Adam Sandler of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
expressed a mixed reaction to the concert in the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California. He noted that Miguel rarely acknowledged his audience or ventured out from the center stage. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
had a more positive reaction to the concert, which he described as a "marvelously designed and wonderfully executed blend of Latin music tradition". Another contributor to the Los Angeles Times, Ernesto Lechner, wrote that Miguel's bolero performance at the Arrowhead Pond
Arrowhead Pond
The Honda Center, previously known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim and colloquially called The Pond or The Ponda, is an indoor arena in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks and was home of the former National Lacrosse League's Anaheim Storm, which...
arena in California "brought the house down" and stated that the experience at the concert was "pretty close" to Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
. In New York City, Miguel performed five consecutive shows in the Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
. In Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
he performed seventeen consecutive concerts in the National Auditorium
National Auditorium
National Auditorium is an entertainment centre located at Paseo de la Reforma #50, Chapultepec in Mexico City right in front of the Polanco hotel zone next to Campo Marte....
, where it was the highest-grossing concert by a Latin artist that year. The tour also traveled to South America; including Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Argentina, and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and continued until May 1998, when Miguel performed throughout Spain. Miguel was the first Latin artist to be inducted to the Pollstar "Top 20 All-Time Grossing Tours" for most tickets sold for consecutive concerts at one venue in 1997.
Critical reception and awards
Romances was generally well received by critics, who praised Miguel's tenor voice and the album's selection of songs. Terry Jenkins of Allmusic praised the collaborative work of Silvetti and Manzanero and called Romances "a sensuous, enchanting album". Achy ObejasAchy Obejas
Achy Obejas is a Cuban American writer and journalist focused on personal and national identity issues, living in Chicago, Illinois.-Life and career:Obejas was born June 28, 1956 in Havana, Cuba...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
called Miguel's voice the strong point of the album and noted the "presence of electronic instruments and the darker, more somber mood". On the other hand, she felt that Miguel was beginning "to slip", citing the tracks "Jurame" and "Por Debajo De La Mesa" as examples. Ernesto Lecnher of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
was more critical of the album and gave it one-and-a-half out of four stars. Fellow Los Angeles Times contributor Ed Morales disagreed with his review and wrote that "Lechner needs to go into his music room, turn down the lights, snuggle up with his significant other and really listen to 'Romances.' I give his review * and 'Romances' ****" . Anne Valdespino of the Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
praised the selection of songs and Miguel's performance, calling the performer a "class act".
At the 40th Grammy Awards, Miguel received the award for Best Latin Pop Performance. Miguel also received a Billboard Latin Music Award
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
for "Male Pop Album of the Year" and a World Music Award
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
for "Best Selling Latin Artist".
Miguel received a Premio Amigo and Premio Onda for "Best Latin Singer of the Year" in Spain, and the album was nominated for a Premio Amigo for "Best Latin Album". Armando Manzanero received a Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
award for his work on "Por Debajo De La Mesa".
Legacy
Warner Music released a three-disc compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
titled Todos los romances
Todos Los Romances
Todos Los Romances is a box-set containing the three bolero albums released by Mexican singer Luis Miguel from 1991 to 1997. The albums included are: Romance, Segundo Romance and Romances.This box-set was released in 1998...
("All The Romances") in 1998, which contains all the tracks from Miguel's Romance albums. The album peaked at number twelve in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and at number six in the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart It was certified gold in Argentina. In 2001 Miguel released a fourth album, covering Latin ballads, titled Mis romances
Mis Romances
- Personnel :* Producer: Luis Miguel* Executive Producers: Alejandro Asensi* Engineer : Rafa Sardina* Digital Edition: Marco Gamboa* Strings Recording: Geoff Foster with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra* Coordinator: Shari Sutcliffe...
("My Romances"). The album peaked at number 115 in the Billboard 200, number two in the Billboard Top Latin Albums, number five in Spain, and number one in the Billboard Latin Pop Albums in Argentina. It was certified gold in Brazil, double platinum in Argentina, and quadruple platinum in the United States and Mexico.
Track listing
Credits and personnel
The following credits are from Allmusic and from the Romances liner notes:Performance credits
BassBass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Sue Banney
- Drew Dembowski
- Donald Ferrone
- Richard Feves
- Abraham Laboriel, Sr.
- Ed Meares
- Bruce Morgenthaler
Cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Dennis Karmazyn
- Suzie Katayama
- Miguel Martinez
- Jodi Burnett
- Larry Corbett
- Christine Ermacoff
- Todd Hemmenway
- Jimbo Ross
- David Shamban
- Nancy Stein-Ross
Viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Bob Becker – viola
- Denyse Buffman – viola
- Matt Funes – viola
- Keith Greene – viola
- Janet Lakatos – viola
- Denyse Buffum – viola
- Marlow Fisher – viola
- Carrie Holzman – little viola
- Jorge Moraga – viola
- Harry Shirinian – viola
- John Scanlon – viola
Violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Eun Mee Ahn
- Richard Altenbach
- Becky Barr
- Jacqueline Brand
- Roman Volodarsky
- Roger Wilkie
- Tiffany Yihu
- Armen Garabedian
- Berj Garabedian
- Endre Granat
- Alan Grunfield
- Pat Johnson
- Karen Jones
- Peter Kent
- Ezra Kliger
- Razdan Kuyumjian
- Natalie Leggett
- Dimitrie Leivici
- Mike Markaman
- Darius Campo
- Joel Derouin
- David Ewart
- Robin Olson
- Carolyn Osborn
- Sid Page
- Diana Halprin
- Tommy Hatwan
- Gil Romero
- Jay Rosen
- Anatoly Rosinsky
- Sheldon Sanov
- Barbara Porter
- Kwihee Shambanari
Vocals
For "La gloria eres tu":
- Dan Navarro
- Steve Real
For "Bésame Mucho":
- Francis Benítez
- Zeila Hoyle
- Isela Sotelo
- Gisa Zatky
Miscellaneous
- Alex Acuña – percussion
- John Bilezikjian – mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
- Earl Dumler – oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
- Ramon Flores – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Jorge "Coco" Trivisonno – bandoneonBandoneónThe bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
- Carlos Vega – drums
- Richie Gajate Garcia – percussion
- Grant Geissman – acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
- Alan Kaplan – trombone
- Jon Kurnick – mandolin
- Don Markese – tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Frank Marocco – accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Bill Reichenbach Jr. – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Ben Bressel – mandolin
- Charlie Davis – trumpet
- Bruce Dukov – concert master, violin
- Dean Parks – acoustic guitar
- Dan Higgins – alto saxophoneAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
- Michito Sánchez – percussion
- Ramón Stagnaro – requintoRequintoThe term requinto is used in both Spanish and Portuguese to mean a smaller, higher-pitched version of another instrument. Thus, there are requinto guitars, drums, and several wind instruments.-Wind instruments:...
- Greg Smith – baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
Chart performance
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF) | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
14 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Albums Latin Pop Albums Latin Pop Albums is a record chart published on Billboard magazine. It features Latin music information of the Pop music genre. Established in June 1985, this chart features only full length albums and like all album charts on Billboard, is based on sales. The information is compiled by Nielsen... |
1 |
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE PROMUSICAE Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry... ) |
1 |