Telenovelas (Latin soap operas) are often great for campy entertainment. But Telemundo's Gitanas was more than your average novela -- much more. Gitanas, which took place in the fictional Mexican fishing village of Malurribo, examined the cultural differences between gypsies and non-gypsies -- and those differences became quite apparent when a young gypsy woman named Salomé (portrayed by Ana de la Reguera) fell wildly in love with a gayo (male non-gypsy) named Sebastian Dominguez (played by Colombian actor Manolo Cardona). Their stormy but ultimately successful romance encountered support as well as stern opposition, and Gitanas took on a broader meaning than misunderstandings among gypsies and non-gypsies; Salomé and Sebastian could have just as easily been a white woman and a black male, or a Jew and a Catholic. Music was an important part of Gitanas, which used flamenco (both modern and traditional) to celebrate the gypsy culture and Mexican music to spotlight the Mexican non-gypsy culture; one might have heard flamenco in one scene followed by a mariachi band performing "Cielito Lindo" in another. By focusing on the flamenco side of things, this soundtrack doesn't tell the whole story. But it's still a fine CD, and Universal Latino shows you different sides of flamenco and the Spanish music scene. The more straight-ahead side of flamenco is exemplified by recordings from acoustic guitar virtuosos like
Paco de Lucía on "Entre Dos Aguas" and
Tomatito on "Pa la Pimpi." But much of the material is essentially Latin pop with some type of flamenco/gypsy influence, including David Bustamante's performance of Gitanas' intoxicating theme song and
David Bisbal's gem "Bulería." Meanwhile,
la Factoria's "Gitana" successfully draws on both flamenco and reggaeton. Gitanas fans will probably want this 51-disc as a souvenir, but the CD is rewarding whether or not one has seen the popular telenovela. ~ Alex Henderson