Robbins Lighter Classics - Flamenco and other Spanish Delights

123

Francis Winspear for Music

Thursday, September 30, 2010, 8:00 pm

Enmax Hall, Winspear Centre

Flamenco and other Spanish Delights

2010-11 Robbins Lighter Classics

William Eddins, conductor
El Viento Flamenco, ensemble

Details

Add some Mediterranean spice to your ESO, and you’ve got an irresistible recipe. Great songs and dances from Spain, some featuring the dashing and energetic El Viento Flamenco, will make for a fiery night of rhythms, colour, and energy. Olé!

Program to include:

Albéniz: Suite Española
Granados: Goyescas: Intermezzo
de Falla: El amor brujo: Ritual Fire Dance
Fajardo: Rumba Flamenco

Ticket Information

$71 Dress Circle (A)
$61 Terrace (B)
$52 Orchestra (C)
$38 Upper Circle (D)
$28 Gallery (E)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges.

The next Robbins Lighter Classics performance is ESO Showcase on November 18, 2010.

Thank you to the generous supporters of this series: Bill & Mary Jo Robbins

Thank you to our series media sponsor:

Program Info

Traditional
Alegria (arr. Palmer) (7’)*

CAMPO

La Chiapanecas (arr. Dragon) (4’)*

ALBÉNIZ

Suite Española: Castilla (arr. Frühbeck de Burgos) (3’)*

España, Op.165: Tango in D Major (arr. Arnold) (3’)*

Suite Española: Sevilla (arr. Frühbeck de Burgos) (5’)*

Traditional

Caminando Tango (arr. Palmer) (5')*
La Farruca (arr. Palmer) (7’)*

GIMÉNEZ

La Boda de Luis Alonso: Intermedio (6’)*

INTERMISSION

CHAPI

La revoltosa: Preludio (5’)*

GRANADOS

Goyescas: Intermezzo (5’)*

FALLA

El amor brujo: Ritual Fire Dance (5’)*

Traditional

Seguiriya (arr. Palmer) (12’)*

NARRO

España Cañi (arr. Dragon) (5’)*

Program subject to change

*indicates approximate performance duration

Program Notes

Toward the end of the 15th century, gypsies began arriving in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. They continued to migrate there until nearly the dawn of the 19th century, and naturally, they combined their own musical influences into that which was native to the region. Over the course of that three-century period, the initial phase of what is called cante hondo began to emerge. Over the course of the next hundred years, cante hondo evolved, ultimately to begin to take on less authentic trappings as it became commercialized and, for want of a better way of putting it, mass marketed and exported.

As the 20th century neared, two important things happened to the music of Spain. First, a more modern form of the “gypsified” Andalusian style of music took shape, and was called cante flamenco (the first known use of the word dates from 1871). Secondly, Spanish composers, who often had to go abroad to learn the compositional techniques of formal European music, were beginning to be heard outside of Spain - a concept known as “nationalism.” Tonight’s concert has a little bit of both, and music in between as well.

Conrado del Campo (1878-1953) did receive some training at the Madrid Conservatory, but was largely self-taught as a composer. A major influence on him was Richard Wagner, and he used Wagnerian models of long, unfolding melody and leitmotif, and applied them to his Spanish music. He became one of the most important Spanish composers – and teachers – of his time. Tonight’s version of his work La Chiapanecas was arranged by Carmen Dragon for his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

One of the most famous of Spanish composers, Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) began writing his Suite Española for piano in 1886, one of the first pieces he composed after studies with Liszt, then with Felipe Pedrell, who urged him to bring out the music of Spain in his works. Each movement of the eight-movement suite bears the name, and influence, of the music of places in Spain. Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos arranged the suite for orchestra, and tonight’s performance features the movements named for Seville and Castille. España is another suite written for solo piano originally, and noted British composer Malcolm Arnold arranged the Tango from the suite for orchestra.

Once the cante flamenco style became popularized, a number of songs came to so represent it in popular culture. They have become the image many of us have when we think of “Spanish music.” Both the Alegria and the Farruca were songs/dances for women to dance to. Of the Farruca, “The Spanish dancer performs this movement in a smooth, flowing manner, keeping the body low and horizontal,” writes Gilbert Chase in The Music of Spain. “It forms a striking contrast with the vigorous, swirling action of the man.” To dance the Alegria, the woman wears a striking gown, with frills and a train, while the dancer herself adds to the energy of the work with clapping and snapping of her fingers. Christopher Palmer arranged the versions of these traditional dances we will hear.

Jerónimo Giménez (1854-1923) was an important conductor and composer, most famous for some of his works written in the zarzuela style – a well-established Spanish opera form that began to regain popularity with the emergence of Spanish nationalism. A number of excerpts from his zarzuela operas continue to hold the stage in Spain, while excerpts are popular in concert. La boda de Luis Alonso is a zarzuela that premiered in January 1897, from which we will hear an orchestral interlude.

Admirers of the music of Ruperto Chapi (1851-1909) referred to him as “the Spanish Massenet.” His one-act zarzuela from 1897, La Revoltosa (“The Troublemaker”), is his most famous work. The title character is a sweet young thing who besots nearly every man who sees her – including three married men who should know better – while she, fully aware of her charms, uses them provocatively. Tonight, we present the work’s overture, or Preludio.

Enrique Granados (1867-1916) is one of the most important Spanish nationalists. The work which first gained him international acclaim was a 1911 piano suite inspired by the paintings of his fellow countryman, Francisco Goya. In 1916, Granados used music from his piano suite as the basis for an opera. Goyescas premiered at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. This Intermezzo was later arranged by Carmen Dragon, and became a concert favourite for his Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Perhaps the most famous work on tonight’s program is the Ritual Fire Dance, an excerpt from the ballet El amor brujo (“Love, the Magician”) by Manuel de Falla. Born in Cadíz, Falla got formal training at the Paris Conservatoire, where he befriended composers such as Debussy, Ravel, and Dukas. The ballet is the story of a man whose love has died, but her restless spirit does not want to let him go and move on to a new love. The swirling, exciting dance represents an attempt to exorcise the spirit.

A “rumba” is a dance of Cuban origins, its name derived from the notion of a “party,” or having a good time. This lively Rumba Flamenca puts the five-beat rhythm inherent in the form into flamenco clothing, and was done so by the late gypsy singer Rafael Fajardo.

España Cañi is one of those tunes that is much more recognizable than its name. Composed by Pascual Marquina Narro (1873-1948), the piece is a paso doble, or a dance for two. Its title translates as “Spanish Gypsy,” though many will doubtless recognize its main section as a crowd-rouser at everything from bullfights to baseball games. We present it tonight in yet another Carmen Dragon arrangement.

Artist Info

El Viento Flamenco

Bob Sutherby, guitar
Sean Harris, vocalist
Tony Tucker, percussion
Megan Matheson, dancer

Flamenco is the traditional music and dance of the gypsies (Roma) of Southern Spain. It has developed over the last 250 years, with influences from various cultures, including Latin American and Middle-Eastern. Today, the vast spectrum of Flamenco styles is kept alive and vibrant in Spain as well as by artists of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds around the world.

Just as Blues purist Eric Clapton sings the blues without trying to reproduce the sound of the Delta note for note, El Viento Flamenco is in love with the tradition, but also brings its own voice to the genre. Its musical influences include everything from gospel and blues to Turkish and Armenian folk music. In addition to singing in Spanish, the musicians of the group are now writing and singing their own lyrics in their own languages, which, in this group, happen to be English, French, Turkish, and Armenian!

El Viento Flamenco brings its own, very distinct voice to the art form. With a singer and guitarist who hail from rock and roll, a percussionist who is involved in everything from Newfoundland folk to African drumming and Punk rock, and dancers who have lived all over the world, the group stands subtly but resolutely outside of flamenco tradition.

Sean's "voz clara" is perhaps the most defining element of El Viento Flamenco's sound. With years of performing gospel, blues, and rock, he has developed a unique style and clear timbre which sets El Viento Flamenco apart from other flamenco troupes around the world. El Viento Flamenco also benefits from singer Maral's background in Armenian folk and Turkish pop tunes. Together, the singers provide the inspiration for the elegant simplicity of the dancing, while both the singers and dancer are sustained by the crisp, aggressive sound of Bob's guitar. Tony, with his influences of Celtic, Middle-Eastern, African and Rock drumming, adds the final touch to El Viento Flamenco's singular sound. The genuine expression of each artist's individuality is of prime importance: thus, in its own way, El Viento Flamenco is fiercely authentic.

William Eddins, conductor

William Eddins is in his sixth season as Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure, he has made it a priority that he conduct performances in nearly every subscription series the orchestra has presented, as well as a wide variety of special concerts and galas.

Bill Eddins began playing the piano at age five, but was bitten by the conducting bug while in his sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music. In 1989, he decided to begin conducting studies with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. Assistant Conductorships with both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony (the latter under the leadership of Daniel Barenboim) honed his skills even further.

Mr. Eddins has many interests outside music. He is fond of biking, tennis, reading, pinball, and cooking. He recently completed building his own recording studio at his home in Minneapolis, where he lives with his wife Jen (a clarinetist), and their sons Raef and Riley. While conducting has been his principal pursuit, he continues to perform on piano in Edmonton and elsewhere. He accepts a limited number of guest appearances each year. In 2008, he conducted a rare full staging of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for Opéra de Lyon, which won him great acclaim, leading to a repeat engagement in Lyon in July and September 2010, as well as Edinburgh in August 2010, and in London in September 2010. During August 2009, Bill toured South Africa, conducting three gala concerts with soprano Renée Fleming and the kwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra.