Alberto Iglesias, who was nominated for an Academy Award this year for The Constant Gardener, teams up once more with Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Volver takes its name from a song that was made popular by Carlos Gardel (1887-1935). It’s sung by Estrella Morente with another Spanish artist, Conchita Panadés, singing the jolly ditty Las espigadoras, a first cousin to “Dere’s a café on de corner” from Hammerstein’s Carmen Jones. These songs are pretty decorations to this infectious score. I much enjoyed the urgent, fast-moving opening cue, Las vecinas, reprised throughout the disc, the guitar and string combination in Titulos (tr 3) and the variety of instrumental timbre elsewhere, notably the saxophone colouring in Irene y Agustina. Rachmaninov lovers will take note of the opening rhythm of his third Piano Concerto that introduces El povlo (tr 16). I look forward to seeing the film, given this entertaining soundtrack and Almodóvar’s flair for music in his movies.