Alberto Iglesias is probably known to most her through his twin Oscar nominations in recent years, for THE CONSTANT GARDENER and THE KITE RUNNER. Accomplished as those scores are in musicianship, it should come as no surprise that the films concerned probably did more to bring him to the attention of the Music Branch of the Academy than the relative excellence of those scores within his own body of work.

For me, what really defines Iglesias as one of the best film composers of our time is his ongoing collaboration with Pedro Almodovar. It hasn't produced his best score (arguably for THE DANCER UPSTAIRS, a John Malkovitch film), nor perhaps even his most beguiling material (arguably for Julio Medem's SEX AND LUCIA). But the films the two have produced to date in collaboration - FLOWER OF MY SECRET, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, LIVE FLESH, TALK TO HER, BAD EDUCATION and VOLVER (THE RETURN) - mark the pair as a director/composer pairing on the order of Hitchcock/Herrmann, Spielberg/Williams, Truffaut/Delerue and Fellini/Rota.

Hyperbole, perhaps? The films of course are pretty unique beasts. Whether they'll be classics on the order of Hitchcock or Fellini in 30 years is hard to predict, and sadly that mandate will have more to do with the sale-ability of his ouevre at the time than any intrinsic quality. Almodovar's brand of melodrama is something I tend to find very moving. In TALK TO HER, the director is at his most sure-footed, handling some potentially outrageous melodrama with grace. The fates of film-maker Benigno, nurse Marco, dancer Alicia and bullfighter Lydia never feel very contrived, though when you think about it, they probably should have.

What do I like about the music? In an age when so many American film composers double the hell out of a hundred instruments, Iglesias shows how much you can get out of a chamber setting. There's some stern classical style writing, lots of Latin dance influences, gorgeous instrumental soli, and a very jazzy sensibility to much of it.

'Hable Con Ella' brings into its eclectic ensemble of strings, woodwinds and guitar some folk-influenced vocals. For the music surrounding Alicia, a Thomas Newman-like idea for piano, violin and strings. (It sounds a bit too close to AMERICAN BEAUTY for my liking, but such an influence doesn't mesh with what I know about Almodovar as a film-maker.) Then there's 'Soy Marco', a lament for one character, provides Iglesias opportunity to write another of his sublime string solos, a slow exploration of the main theme for solo viola over a gentle string rhythm.

Other highlights include: 'Jordania', an energetic scherzo for strings; the airy 'Le Mesita de Noche', with emphasis on harp and jazz trumpet; the darker-hued 'Maria santisma de Aracelli'; the earnest cello of 'Decadance'; the eight-minute string quartet piece 'El Amante Menguante' (for Almodovar film's 'silent film' setpiece), and of course 'Amenecer Agitato' lives up to its name.