Amor, amor, amor…An evening of love and passion
By Beverly Russell January 25, 2008 San Miguel de Allende
Concert
Noche de Amor
Thurs Feb 7, 7pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
To benefit ALMA
Tickets 100, 60, 40 pesos
As a curtain-raiser to St. Valentine’s Day, the loveliest day of the year, two of San Miguel’s leading vocalists, Ken McCutcheon Vaun and Ron Shawn, with their accompanist, concert pianist Liz Stone, devote an entire evening to lyrical love songs.
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The trio, who call themselves “Los Logros” (the achievers) are presenting their program with their compañeros “Trio Rio Negro” (Severo Barrera, guitar, Camille Garcia, accordionist and Gilberto Gonzalez, bass) who will play music for the well-known tango dancers and teachers Daniel and Esther Ramirez. |
Both Vaun and Shawn, Texan friends for over 30 years, have a long history of involvement in music and dance. Shawn grew up with music from the age of four, learning to play the violin from his aunt. Together, they are composers of music and lyrics for a Broadway musical Surprise, the life of a madam in New York and Las Vegas. Their goal is to have the piece performed on The Great White Way, and later made into a movie. Meanwhile they are making their stage debut together in San Miguel. “I’m here because of Ken,” explained Shawn. “I came to San Miguel to visit him a few years ago and I never went back,” he added.
“Doing this concert performance was the furthest thing from my mind a year ago,” Shawn said. “Sanny, owner of La Alborada restaurant on Sollano gave me some CDs of popular Mexican music. They changed my life. I started listening to stacks and stacks of them. But then last February, at a performance of “A Man for All Seasons” at the Biblioteca’s Teatro Santa Ana, I sat next to Liz Stone and starting talking about music. This conversation was another significant step along the way. Now, exactly a year to the day, we are on stage at the Ángela Peralta.”
Of course, such transformations don’t happen overnight without diligent practice. Shawn and Vaun rehearse long hours almost every day, learning songs with Liz Stone. They have had engagements at St. Paul’s Church and other venues to fine-tune their repertoire. They will sing 25 numbers, including many written by well-known Mexican composers, such as Agustin Lara, Roberto Cantoral and Consuelo Velazquez, the woman who wrote the haunting and familiar “Besame Mucho.” Concert-goers are predicted to leave the theater humming the love songs they sing so well, laced with dramatic Argentinean tangos, the passionate dance form dedicated to romance.
Daniel and Ester Ramirez, owners of the La Grotta restaurant on Cuadrante and the Talisman Boutique on Zacateros, are a popular couple in the San Miguel community and have just returned from Buenos Aires, following a seven-week intensive daily instruction on the tango. There, they were coached by such famous instructors as Pablo Veron, Vanina Bilous, Juan Carlos Copes and others. The Ramirez’ teach tango here in San Miguel to any students who feel the urge to learn this exotic dance. “Trio Rio Negro” who provide their musical rhythms, are heard throughout San Miguel’s most popular restaurants. Guitarist Severo Barrera often plays solo at Mama Mia’s.
“All you need is love,” chorused the Beatles. Noche de Amor promises to send us all spinning with romantic ideas and passionate thoughts. All the proceeds of the show go to ALMA, the assisted living home for the elderly.
Beverly Russell is author of several books on design and the arts, and articles for numerous publications, including The New York Times. She came to live in San Miguel in 2006.
El Sindicato
Inauguration concert
Soprano Alicia Rappoport, pianist Ann Riley
& dancers Frida Chacon & Carmen Jimémez
Fri, Jan 25, 8pm
Casa de las Artes Escenicas (El Sindicato)
Recreo 4
After months of hard work—new construction and new class schedules—El Sindicato reopens with its creative focus on the Casa de Artes Escénicas (Performing Arts School). Jesus Ibarra covers the new look and new projects of El Sindicato next week.
Klezmerson concert cancelled
By Isaac Toporek
Because of circumstances beyond our control, the Klezmer music concert planned for Saturday, January 26 has been canceled. We are sorry for the inconvenience. A new date to present Klezmerson at El Viejo Topo Café-Teatro will be set very soon, and we will send information to Atención. Thank you for your understanding.
Age Kristoffersen matinee concerts continue
Concerts
Age Kristoffersen
Feb 3, 10, 17 & 24, 2pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos
Teatro Santa Ana continues the Sunday matinee concert season with acclaimed pianist Age Kristoffersen. The program for February 3, 10, 17 and 24 will be “An Hour of Romantic Classics, Per Lasson: Crescendo, Robert Shumann: Traumerei, F Chopin: Waltz in E Minor, Chr. Sinding: Rustle of Spring, Brahams: 3 Waltzes, Mendelssohn: Song without Words, Paderewski: Minuet, Jean Sibelius: Romance in D Flat, Rachmaninoff: Polichinelle, Debussy: Clair de Lune, Brahams: Hungarian Dance no. 7.”
Age Kristoffersen has had a lifelong love affair with the piano. He began as a child by drawing keyboards on tables and window sills and “playing” to music from the radio even before his family owned a piano. After years of intensive work with leading piano teachers and concert pianists in Europe, he studied at Brandeis University as a Fulbright scholar.
Today Age is an internationally acclaimed concert artist who gives more than one hundred performances around the world every year. He has received prizes and awards on three continents and has met with unanimous praise from critics everywhere:
New York Times after a concert in Carnegie Hall:
...“an extraordinarily accomplished pianist”...“no technical problems seem to bother him, phrasing and dynamics are carefully planned, and color is his special territory”...“a lovely, masterly piano recital”
Composer David Monrad Johansen:
“I have never heard such a perfect performance of my Sonata.”
Vocal duo presents concert of opera and Mexican song
Review by John Bills
One of the joys of concert-going in San Miguel is the opportunity to hear music not often encountered in the United States. One such occasion was January 12 at the Teatro Ángela Peralta, when baritone Carlos Sánchez and tenor Joaquin Ledesma presented a delightful evening of opera excerpts and songs by Mexican film composers. Perhaps owing to its being rescheduled from an earlier date, the program was unfortunately sparsely attended, but nevertheless was performed with talent, commitment and considerable charm.
The first half of the evening was devoted to operatic arias and duets, with Mr. Ledesma offering two crowd-pleasers, “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto, and the tenor aria from Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, made famous by the late Luciano Pavarotti because of its sequence of nine high-Cs. Though his talents might have been better showcased by less flamboyant fare, Mr. Ledesma sang gamely and approached his stratospheric notes with confidence and style.
Carlos Sánchez chose to begin with the bel canto phrasings of “Ah, per sempre io ti perdei” from Bellini’s I puritani, sung with melting legato and sensitivity, followed by the famous Toreador Song from Bizet’s Carmen, performed with panache, sailing into the top notes with confidence and firm tone. Mr. Sánchez cuts a dashing figure on stage, but also brings a grace and artistic seriousness to his work that is as refreshing to encounter as it is rare. This is a singer of great promise.
The arias were interspersed with duets, from Act IV of Puccini’s La Bohème, and the noble “friendship” duet from Act I of Verdi’s Don Carlo. The tenderness of “O Mimì tu più non torni” brought out the best in Mr. Ledesma’s lyric tenor, though he was somewhat over-parted as Don Carlo. Mr. Sánchez capped Verdi’s great duet with a thrilling high G, then scaled back his large baritone for the Puccini. The severely truncated version of the Don Carlo duet (in this case really an excerpt of an excerpt) would have made a more dramatic finish for the concert’s first half had it been presented uncut, and especially had it been better played by pianist Juárez Lincoln than on this occasion.
After a brief intermission, the singers exchanged their white ties and tails for traditional Mexican mariachi outfits and sombreros, and were joined by Trio Mi Cuidad for a group of songs by (mostly) Mexican composers associated with the cinema. Opening with “La Gloria eres Tú,” a sensual bolero by José Antonio Méndez once banned in his native Cuba, the entire set was a delight, with both singers bringing great charm and style to songs that explored the richness of Mexican song. Although several selections were previously unknown to this reviewer, I was astounded to later discover that Manuel Esperón, the composer of “Coplas,” had contributed music to 384 Mexican films between 1938 and 1991; that “Un Viejo amor” by Alfonso Esparza Oteo was not only featured in several films, but was a favorite of “Golden Age” Italian tenor Tito Schipa; and that “Paloma querida” composer Jose Alfredo Jimenez, born in nearby Dolores Hidalgo, was also an actor in 25 films. My pleasure in discovering music of this quality was clearly shared by the enthusiastic audience who wouldn’t let Ledesma and Sánchez leave without several encores, including the 1960s hit “Spanish Eyes” (by German composer Bert Kaempfert) and the 1940 classic written by 15 year-old (!) Consuelo Velázquez, “Bésame Mucho.”
John Bills sang over 5000 performances at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City during his 26-year career. He and his wife, Chef Shari Alexander, now divide their time between Massachusetts, where John is Director of The Red Maple Inn Film School, and their home in Atascadero. Contact John at
FliksRUs@aol.com.
Sergio Basurto Valencia—folklore harp and flamenco guitar
Concert
Folklore Harp & Flamenco Guitar
Mon, Jan 28, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos, limited seating
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The extraordinary musician Sergio Basurto Valencia has been recognized and acknowledged in San Miguel for more than 20 years. His musical career started in Mexico City when, at 16, he studied the Andean flute known as quena. |
This expertise allowed him to become part of the most prestigious Latin American folklore groups of the seventies. He learned to play the multiple, syncopated rhythms of Latin American folklore such as milongas, zamba, baladas, rumba and bossa nova. From this experience it wasn’t difficult for him to understand flamenco rhythms and interpret the most representative with mastery. Basurto has being offering his very well received concerts in the Teatro Santa Ana for the past five years.
On the harp, he will perform a selection of Latin American folk themes like “Concierto en la Llanura” (Venezuela), “Cascada” (Paraguay), “La Paloma” (Cuba) and “Cielito Lindo” (Mexico). On the Spanish guitar, he will play “Milonga” (Uruguay), “Galopa” (Argentina), “Siboney” (Cuba), and will end with a demonstration of his mastery and the strength of the flamenco: “Soleares, alegrias, tangos and buleria.”
The experience of seeing such a versatile musician will give you an unforgettable evening. Don’t miss it! Seating is limited, so please get your tickets in advance at the theater.
Guitarist at Bellas Artes
Spanish and Latin American music will be performed by guitar player Oscar Díaz Navarro on Sunday, January 27 at 1pm in Miguel Malo Auditorium at Bellas Artes. The program includes works by Isaac Albeniz, Emilio Narváez, F. Torroba and A. Barrios, as well as Aires de Son (Winds of Sound) by G. Támez and “Baden Jazz Suite by J. Jirmal.
Oscar Díaz Navarro studied in the music school of the University of Guanajuato with teacher Rafael Cuen Garibi. After finishing his degree in music, he took master courses with renowned guitar players in Mexico and abroad. He is currently a student with the illustrious teacher Juan Carlos Laguna in Mexico City.
Nigel Coxe plays piano classics
By Bob Kelly
Piano Concerts
Nigel Coxe
Sat, Jan 26, 5pm
Sun, Jan 27, 7pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
200, 150, 50 pesos
Pianist Nigel Coxe will play the works of nine classical composers and a contemporary master at concerts presented by San Miguel el Grande Pro Musica.
The Saturday concert includes “Fantasia in C” by Joseph Haydn; “Sonata in A Minor,” Franz Schubert; “Clair de Lune” and four other pieces by Claude Debussy; “Liebestraum,” Franz Liszt and “Fantaisie-Impromptu,” Frederic Chopin.
Sunday’s program includes “Fantasia in D minor” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; “Prelude,” Johann Sebastian Bach; “Sonata in D,” Haydn; “Variations Serieuses,” Felix Mendelssohn; Russian and Bulgarian dances by Bela Bartok; “Impromptu in G flat” and “Impromptu in E flat” by Schubert and selections from the George Gershwin songbook.
Tickets can be purchased at La Tienda in the Biblioteca, Insurgentes 25; Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; La Conexión, Aldama 3; and St. Paul’s Church, weekdays 11am–2pm and at the door one hour before the performance.