40th FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL de CLASSICAL MUSICA de CANARIA
40th FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL
de MUSICA de CANARIA
preview by Norman Warwick
Once again the incredible logistics have been sorted and hundreds of classical musicians and their instruments will be touring the Canary Islands in January and February, with concerts being delivered at every port of call.
At the time of writing this piece (Thursday 7th December), although we know details are online, tickets for any of the events have not yet been put on sale. I expect they might be on sale by the time you read this when it goes to press next week, and if you are interested in this fantastic event I wouldn´t hang about if I were you: as soon as your computer has warmed up, get online by following the link at the foot of this article. Tickets for this annual event sell like hot cakes or cold beers !
The performers who will be appearing on Lanzarote are,
PHILARMONIC ORCHESTRA OF GRAN CANARIA
Los Jameos Del Agua Auditorium, Lanzarote, Jan 14th
Faithful to its appointment with the Festival, the OFGC celebrates the 40th edition twice: with a symphonic program and a chamber program. This second repertoire, the chamber repertoire, will take you to stages in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote during the first week of the Festival, with a string ensemble, directed by Karel Mark Chichon. They will perform works by Shostakovich, Grieg and a world premiere by Samuel Aguilar : ‘A new beginning’, a commission from the FIMC to the Lanzarote composer.
This premiere will be the opening of the concerts. Later, Javier Laso (piano) and David Lacruz (trumpet) join the ensemble to perform Shostakovich’s Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings, a work of special instrumental complexity, which has been performed and recorded by numerous soloists of renown over the years, and continues to be a reference piece in the classical repertoire.
The concert will end with the Holberg Suite, the work with which Grieg paid tribute to the Norwegian-Danish writer Ludvig Holberg on the bicentenary of his birth. It is a neoclassicist essay: it reflects the attempts of 19th century musicians to return to forms and styles of previous centuries. Originally composed for piano, a year later it was adapted for string orchestra, as we know it today and as we will hear it from the OFGC.
S. Aguilar: A New Beginning – Absolute Premiere. Festival Commission
D. Shostakovich: Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings
E. Grieg: Holberg Suite
Lanzarote Concert 2:
DUO CASSADA,
Teatro Municipal, Tias, Lanzarote, 18th January 2024
The Cassadó Duo, formed by the cellist Damian Martínez and the pianist Marta Moll, presents a program entitled ‘Hechizo y duende’, in tribute to Federico García Lorca, on the 125th anniversary of the birth of the poet and playwright.
This is a show that fuses classical music, flamenco, dance and poetry, with the collaboration of Iván Vargas, one of the flamenco dancers with the greatest national and international projection. The repertoire includes music compiled and harmonized by Lorca himself, Falla and Halffter, as well as a recent creation by Jesús Villa Rojo entitled ‘Lamento’
‘Hechizo y duende’ is part of the recording that Lorca made with Encarnación López ‘La Argentinita’, in which you can hear Lorca himself at the piano and the mythical dancer singing, tapping and playing the chopsticks
As Ian Gibson states, “Lorca’s work and life cannot be explained without taking into account the fact that Federico was a born musician”. As a great lover of popular heritage, he studied different treatises and songbooks, and harmonized thirteen old Spanish songs from different parts of Spain. The Cassadó Duo has made a transcription for cello and piano of the Canciones Antigua Españolas, which forms a core part of the show.
“Hechizo y duende”
(Homage to F. García Lorca on the 125th Anniversary of his birth)
J. Villa Rojo: Lamento( cantaor y chelos grabados)
E. Halffter: Serenade to Dulcinea (Cello and Piano)
E. Halffter: Habanera
I. Vargas: -Solo de bailaor-
F. García Lorca: Old Spanish songs (cello and piano)
M. de Falla: Spanish folk songs ( cello and piano)
Lanzarote Concert 3
OCÉANO- Parallel Festival
El Salinero Theatre, Arrecife, Lanzarote, January 20th
Océano’ is a multidisciplinary show of music – with premiere works, narration and live painting.
We live surrounded by the sea, an immense ocean that we share with other coasts: a sea that has forged us as a society, as a people, with different ways of looking towards the horizon. This approach is the starting point of the show: our ocean becomes the link between artists and various borders. The sea is inspiration, is hope, freedom and calm. Surrounded by his coming and going, between fury and calm, we are unleashed by the need to trust him with our desires.
‘Océano’ unites the musical creation of composers from the Canary Islands and from outside the archipelago, storytelling and live oil painting to, from different arts, create a unique show with the same common link.
This multidisciplinary show aims to give the viewer something unique, in which various arts coexist to transform an idea, a concept, into a work of art. Starting from the ocean as a feeling and as a connecting link, various musicians, such as Sergio Rodríguez, Candelaria Dorta or Ayoze Rodríguez, have composed works for the show, so it will be its absolute premiere.
The arts feed each other, giving rise to words and painting, with music being what nourishes the rest and where it comes to life. The word, the oil painting with various techniques, the scenery and live music make this show an occasion to look around us and the feelings we share.
A. Rodríguez: Enneagrams
D. Martel: Daxaedúa shari
S. Rodríguez: The Future of Time (premiere adaptation)
A. Rodríguez: Mar Afuera (premiere work)
AN Rodríguez Martín: Devil’s Danse (premiere work)
C. Dorta: 5 minutes of crossing (premiere work)
I. Fariña: Gravity (premiere adaptation)
Nesoi Trio: Avant-garde Improvisations (Live Creation)
Lanzarote Concert 4
DEUTSCHE KAMMERPHILHARMONIE BREMEN
Los Jameos Del Agua, Lanzarote, January 24th
The Bremen Chamber Philharmonic is a cultural emblem of the city and Germany. Its clear and energetic style, which the group calls “the sound of the 21st century”, places it as a reference orchestra on the international scene. The Canarian public already knows their sound, since they visited us in 2019.
Now they return with a “prodigy” at the helm: Tarmo Peltokoski . This young Finn, only 23 years old, is the current principal guest conductor of the Bremen group. They are accompanied by soprano Chen Reiss , “a bright and clear silver voice” (Bachtrack), soloist in Schumann’s ‘Frauenliebe und Leben’ (with orchestral arrangement by Conrad Artmüller) and in Mahler’s Fourth, arranged by Yoel Gamzou .
Discover the secrets of this concert in the preview talk that Ricardo Ducatenzeiler will offer one hour before the start.
R. Schumann | Frauenliebe und Leben (Arrangement Conrad Artmüller – Orchestral version)
G. Mahler | Symphony No. 4 (Arranged by Yoel Gamzou)
Tarmo Peltokoski, address
Chen Reiss, soprano
Lanzarote Concert 5
ÁNGARO ( Nueva Versión)- Festival Paralelo
Jameos Del Agua Auditorium Lanzarote
January 25th 2024
The company Pieles presents the new version of its acclaimed show ‘Ángaro’, which fuses tradition and avant-garde through melody, singing and percussion.
‘Ángaro’ speaks of the feeling of belonging as a common bond between all peoples. With this work, Pieles proposes a twinning between the five continents through popular music, since from the ethnographic point of view they reflect each cultural legacy. Musical folklore has the ability to travel in both time and space, so it contains common knowledge and spreads it around the world. It’s only a matter of time before we end up soaking it all in.
This interdisciplinary artistic project brings together sound and words. The sound and timbral sequence is developed taking into account the intact and ancestral musical germ that later became a global folklore. In this way, a bridge is built to the original rhythm with the intention of recognising the artistic-cultural content of the Canary Islands and the rest of the world, and its evolution to the present day. ‘Ángaro’ was born from a feeling of global belonging, which is why it is interested in the universal cultural heritage and promotes the rapprochement between different cultures. To do this, songs, rhythms, words, dances, images and popular knowledge are intertwined through old and new creative tools.
Fernando Alonso | Flutes – whistles
Jose Felix Alvarez | Voice – percussions
Laura Alvarez | Voice – percussions
Fede Beuster | percussions
Carlos Castaneda | percussions
Itahisa Darias | violin – whistle
Guard Windor | percussions
Jeremiah Martin | Piano – accordion
Guillermo Molina | Percussions – whistles – whistle
Juan Antonio Mora | double bass – bass
Fatima Rodriguez | Voice – percussions
Jonathan Rodriguez | Percussions
Lanzarote Concert 6
ACADEMY OF THE FIELDS CHAMBER ENSEMBLE-
El Salinero Theatre, Arrecife, Lanzarote, 1st Feb
The Canary Islands Music Festival, in its En Paralelo section, presents this exquisite chamber program by the Academy St. Martin in the Fields . Before the concerts they will offer in the capital’s auditoriums, an octet from the British group will tour several islands with a baroque-romantic repertoire.
A luxury opportunity to enjoy the good work of this London orchestra, considered one of the best chamber ensembles in the world, thanks to its brilliant performances. They join the celebration of the 40th FIMC, which will begin with a select repertoire that includes the Ricercare a 6 of Bach’s famous Musical Offering, one of the masterpieces of the Baroque.
It will continue with Brahms’ Sextet No. 1, a work for strings that reflects, in a balanced and simultaneous way, Brahms’ fascination with the violin and his delight in the expressive power of the accompanying instruments. A few years before this work, a romantic chamber music reference, at the dawn of musical romanticism, Mendelssohn composed his Octet for Strings, a piece that completes this program. A score completed when the German musician was 16 years old, being one of his best early works.
JS Bach: Musical offering, BWV 1079: Ricercare at 6
J. Brahms: Sextet in B flat major op. 18
F. Mendelssohn: Octet
Lanzarote Concert 7
JAKUB J. ORLINSKI & il pomo d’oro – Francis Corti
Extraordinary Concert
El Salinero Theatre Arrecife Lanzarote, February 3rd
He became a master of falsetto almost by chance, due to a draw in a choir in which he sang as a teenager. Today, the Polish Jakub J. Orlinski is a leading countertenor who triumphs beyond the stage. His recordings and his parallel actions offstage make him a personality whose influence crosses borders.
His media appearances, his participation in first-rate musical events, the awards he has won and much more make going to see Orlinski in concert a real event, whether in recital format, in operas or in concert with groups. And, on many occasions, the public is lucky enough to see a breakdancing exhibition – his other great passion – by the artist outside the venue.
We don’t know what will happen here, but we will have Orlinski at 40 FIMC. He comes with a baroque repertoire, together with the ensemble il pomo d’oro, an Italian ensemble with which he regularly works, under the direction of Francesco Corti .
They bring us a fascinating repertoire titled FACCE D’AMORE, which they recorded together and have performed on many stages around the planet.
Details of other soloists and ensembles performing across the rest of our islands over the six weeks or so after Christmas and ticket details, can be found by following the link below
https://www.icdcultural.org/fimc-2024?locale=en
You can imagine that a tour containing several orchestreas and ensembles and their musicians and their musical instruments, travelling by air or sea from island to island could be a logistical nightmare !
So, please remember that the Festival’s programme is subject to change. Keep an eye on Festival’s social media: https://www.facebook.com/festivaldecanarias
And on that note… let the (classical) music begin!!!
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