Romances - Recording and Production

Recording and Production

Miguel collaborated with Silvetti for the arrangement of Romances, while Manzanero was in charge of direction. Recording began on March 18, 1997, at Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood and at The Hit Factory in New York City. During the recording of Romances, as in Romance, Silvetti employed his signature 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." Silvetti has stated that when he produces an album he does not simply copy his own 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 the songs, and he chooses what he wants to record." Participants in the recording sessions included sixty-one musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

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, 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"). The two original compositions were "Por Debajo de la Mesa" ("Underneath the Table") by Manzanero and "Contigo (Estar Contigo)" ("To Be With You") by Bebu Silvetti and Sylvia Riera Ibañez.