Downey Symphony performing special Latin-flavored concert
DOWNEY — Danzon! Now we’re dancing!
“I built the program,” said Sharon Lavery, Music Director for the Downey Symphonic Society, “thinking about the plethora of ‘Latin flavored’ repertoire in the classical music genre.”
Latin is the umbrella word for Spanish-speaking countries as well as those of indigenous American ancestry and culture. The concert showcases all of that.
This April 8 performance of the Downey Symphony Orchestra will also feature Marichitlan!, a work by Juan Pablo Contreras, and a Giovanni Santos world premiere. Both composers will be present.
“We’ll open,” said director and conductor Sharon, “with Andalusian Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance from El Amor Brujo.”
With incantatory rhythm, a young Andalusian gypsy girl dances around the campfire at midnight with the ghost of her dead husband, whirling faster and faster to cast off his spell.
Marichitlan! brings the New World to the stage. Composer Juan Pablo Contreras is the youngest Mexican classical music composer to be nominated for a Latin Grammy Award, and Juan Pablo will be in the house that evening. Hearing Marichitlan! (Mariachiland) is like being in a Mariachi Plaza with multiple mariachis interrupting each other and competing to win over the crowd.
“I wanted to celebrate my Mexican heritage,” said Juan Pablo, “with a very positive and vibrant orchestral work, and felt that mariachi music was the perfect source of inspiration to do so. Mariachitlán is my favorite work in my catalog, and it is the best representation of who I am as a composer. It’s an orchestral homage to my birthplace, the Mexican state of Jalisco, where mariachi music originated”
“Juan Pablo was a student of mine,” said Sharon, “at USC Thornton School of Music, in my graduate instrumental conducting class. That’s where we first met, and we’ve been friends and colleagues ever since.”
Danzon! the next piece, by Arturo Márquez, born in Álamos, Sonora, is one of the most popular Mexican contemporary classical music compositions. The dance style named danzón has its origins in Cuba, with African origins, but is a very important part of the folklore of the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Similar to a tango, the Mexican danzón has the syncopated rhythms and melancholy melodies. Composer Márquez wrote Danzon No. 2 for full orchestra, and the piece features solos for clarinet, oboe, piano, violin, double bass, French horn, trumpet, flute, and piccolo. Each instrument is highlighted with solo lines.
After the intermission the annual April auction for Conductor Sharon’s baton next April will take place. The bidding is lively and it’s always amazing how many patrons have been saving up. It’s not often one gets the opportunity to lead a professional group like the full Downey Symphony Orchestra.
Earlier in the evening, the winner of last April’s auction will have conducted a piece to start the evening festivities. The winner also gets free conducting lessons from Music Director Sharon at rehearsal, and a picture of themselves in action.
After the excitement of the auction, Sharon will conduct a world premier, Fanfare For Earth, by Giovanni Santo. The son of a Cuban father and a Dominican mother, he was raised in Puerto Rico.
“Gio was a former member of our ensembles here at USC Thornton,” Sharon said, “years ago when he was completing his Master’s degree in trumpet performance. Now he teaches at La Sierra College. He too has been a friend and colleague ever since.”
The Mahler Lieder, poems by the poet Friedrich Rückert set to the music of Mahler’s emotional world, and Capriccio Española by Rimsky-Korsakov, an orchestral suite based on lively Spanish folk melodies, will complete the program.
The Mahler songs will be sung by baritone Anthony Moreno, who is of Spanish Portuguese descent.
“I’ve always wanted to perform these Rückert Lieder,” said Sharon, “so when Anthony suggested them, I was thrilled.”
In Capriccio Español, Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov lets the whole orchestra contribute to recreating the Spanish countryside. In the alboradas (dawn songs) we hear the promise of heat later in the day, in blistering solos by the clarinet and violin, with tambourine and snare drum.
For the finale, Rimsky-Korsakov turns to the fandango, the most widespread of the Spanish dances. Every section of the orchestra takes its turn leading the dance famous for its sensuality before finishing in a riotous whirl of colors.
Tickets are available for the Saturday, April 8, concert at 8 pm at the Downey Theatre box office. Tickets can also be purchased by calling (562) 861-8211 and online at downeytheatre.org.