PRSO in rhythm of castanets offers evening full of inspiration and sensuality at Municipal House
Spanish musical expression is marked by different melodic approaches and an original kind of sensuality. It is small wonder, then, that many composers have found in Spanish music excitement and inspiration.
The same await the audience at a concert at the Municipal House on 30 January subtitled “The PRSO in the rhythm of castanets”, an evening filled with passionate atmosphere and Latin-American rhythms under the baton of the Venezuelan conductor Manuel Hernández-Silva.
The evening will begin with a composer who originally studied law and made a living for some years as a lawyer. However, Emmanuel Chabrier’s real passion was music. Indeed, España, the composer’s most performed piece, was written after a visit to Spain. It is a geyser of ideas and original stylisations. The wife of the painter Renoir recalled how Chabrier had played the composition at their home. Like a hurricane passing overhead, was her description.
In the next piece, Manuel de Falla’s Love, the Magician, you will experience an ancient Andalusian tale of passionate love and jealousy that not even death can bring to an end. The piece was written in the early years of WWI and went through many forms. The best-known ballet version, which calls for a vocalist capable of interpreting in the throaty voice typical of Spanish folk music, will be performed by the charismatic Israeli singer Edit Zamir.
Maurice Ravel’s Bolero was regarded as a mere bauble by the composer himself and he was greatly taken aback by the piece’s success. He recalled very fondly the reaction of one lady at the venue who during the melody, which is repeated several times, crying out “He’s a madman!” In Ravel’s words, she was the only person who had understood the composition. Prior to the interval we can look forward to a piece that tops both sales charts and internet views.
The second half of the concert will get underway with a rumba-inflected symphony by George Gershwin entitled the Cuban Overture. The dance atmosphere will continue with a piece that is so popular in Mexico that its central melody is regarded by many as a second national anthem. The title of José Pablo Moncayo Garcia’s Huapango comes from a typical Mexican dance that combines triple-beat and double-beat rhythmic themes.
Next up will be Marquez’s Danzón no. 2. It is a typical example of the composer’s style and features a slow part alternating with a fast section with typical Mexican rhythms.
The glittering evening will come to a close with the music of Alberto Ginastera, who is regarded as one of the most important composers in Latin America.
His work is known throughout the world. The ballet Estancia is one of the composer’s early works. The composer turned the half-hour ballet into a four-movement suite that concludes with the Malambo movement, which is inspired by a typical national dance and gets people out of their seats.
The whole evening will also feature non-traditional musical instruments the guiro and castanets.
Spanish music differs greatly from European work. We believe you will leave enchanted by the passion and temperament that typify this music.
Czech Radio will broadcast the concert live on the station Vltava.
