Sumptuous musical feast
By Alice Sperling
November 7, 2008 San Miguel de Allende
Concerts
Tres Noches de Canto
Reserve: tresnochesdecanto@hotmail.com
Dinner with Kirsten West
Thu, Nov 20
Rancho Casa Luna
Cieneguita
1000 pesos, limited to 80
Fri, Nov 21, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
300/150/50 pesos
Sat–Sun, Nov 22–23, 5pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
200/150/80 pesos
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Ópera de San Miguel and Pro Musica team up for the first time to present a sumptuous musical feast, Tres Noches de Canto (Three Nights of Song). The three evenings of music feature four stars of the March 2008 Ópera de San Miguel (OSM) competition for emerging Mexican talent. Chef Kirsten West kicks off the festivities Thursday night with a special dinner based on the favorite dishes of great opera singers and composers. |
Returning to wow sanmiguelenses are Rodrigo Garciarroyo, tenor; Flor del Carmen Herrera, soprano; Lydia Rendón, mezzo soprano; and Juan-Carlos López, tenor.
OSM Artistic Director Joseph McClain comments, “Our intention with the hugely successful competition is to continue giving these very special young artists opportunities to perform here. It’s good for them and a real delight for us to be able to sample some world-class talent right here in San Miguel. Three nights of bringing down the house with great singing and Kirsten West’s unique feast have all the makings of another unbelievable weekend of opera.”
| The four-night mini-festival provides audiences with a 360-degree view of the artistry of these four extraordinary young singers. Beginning in the Peralta, audiences will thrill to the beauty and power of great voices in a program of dramatic arias from operas such as Carmen, La Bohème and I Pagliacci; passionate Spanish songs; soaring Zarzuela; and climaxing in a new arrangement of a Mexican favorite with all four artists. | |
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At St Paul’s Church, two different artists perform on each successive evening. This intimate setting allows the singers to show entirely different aspects of their artistry. This is the moment of “up close and personal” with a wonderful array of songs and duets by Fauré, Beethoven, Gounod, Verdi, Dvorák and Bach. Tres Noches de Canto connects audiences with the total artistry of these gifted young singers.
“The collaboration is an artistic first for the city. By combining resources and expertise, OSM and Pro Musica are able to bring an unparalleled three nights of songfest to San Miguel,” said Michael Pearl, president of Pro Musica. “Building on the success of Pro Musica’s seven-month concert season and OSM’s country-wide search for the stars of tomorrow, this unique venture helps reinforce San Miguel’s status as a musical mecca.”
A discounted series pass to the dinner and all three concerts, for the best seats at both venues, is available to patrons of Pro Musica and members of Ópera de San Miguel for 1,500 pesos. Courtesy vans run from Centro to the Rancho for your convenience. The discount pass for the three concerts is 550 pesos. Consider joining to take advantage of this perk.
Patrons and members may purchase tickets through November 6; general ticket sales begin November 7. Tickets to the November 21 concert are available at the Peralta box office. Tickets for the November 22–23 St. Paul’s concerts may be purchased at Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; La Connexión, Aldama 3; La Tienda at the Biblioteca and at St. Paul’s.
For more information, contact Alice Sperling at alicesperling@hotmail.com.
Marcia Ball: Raisin’ roofs and tearin’ down walls
By Glenda Robinson
Concert
Marcia Ball
Sun, Nov 30, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
cnr Mesones & H. Macías
350/300/200/100 pesos
| She can “break your heart with a ballad, or break your back with a rocker,” wrote the Boston Herald about “Bayou Queen” Marcia Ball, who will take the Teatro Ángela Peralta stage November 30 as a headliner for the 14th International Jazz and Blues Festival. I still remember the first time I saw Marcia Ball, on her Sing Out! album tour in 1989. |
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She is tall (six feet), skinny as the proverbial rail and was all elbows and knees as she tore up the stage with her ferocious piano playing and singing. I loved her droll sense of humor and down-to-earth warmth.
Recently I spoke with this three-time Grammy nominee. Her sense of humor and warmth are still very much intact, right along with those endless arms and legs.
Glenda Robinson: San Miguel has lots of transplanted Texans and they are thrilled that you are coming here to perform. For the first time ever we may witness rabid fans sleeping on the sidewalk outside the Peralta box office, just to be sure they get tickets to your concert. Are you a native Texan?
Marcia Ball: I was born in Orange, Texas, but only because the hospital was on the other side of the Louisiana state line. I grew up in Vinton, Louisiana, so I’m basically a Cajun, and when you’re a Cajun, no matter where you go, there you are. My grandmother was a ragtime-era piano player, and I started learning piano at five using her sheet music, so those New Orleans chord changes are almost a part of my DNA. I moved to Texas in 1970 sort of by accident. I was headed for San Francisco, my car broke down in Austin, I fell in love with the place and I’ve been there ever since. So to all those Texans in San Miguel, I say “Y’all come! We’re gonna have a great time.”
GR: You’re calling your latest CD Peace, Love & BBQ, saying that those are three of your favorite things. How so?
MB: Well, peace is kind of self-evident, I think. And love—it really is true that love is all you need. Inside I’m still basically an old hippie in tie-dye—my views about peace and love haven’t changed in 20 years. And as for BBQ—you can substitute gumbo, or crawfish étouffée, or chile relleno. These are, I think, really the three things that sustain us.
GR: You have a long history with Mexico. Tell me about it.
MB: I first traveled to Mexico 28 years ago with my parents, who used to come down to fish. Later I decided to study Spanish, and I remember taking a very long, hot, dry trip to Guanajuato and San Miguel. Recently my husband Gordon and I have been coming down to San Miguel every year and renting a house. This will be our seventh consecutive year. San Miguel somehow manages to be vibrant and relaxing at the same time and I love being there.
GR: You are a singer, a piano player and a songwriter—which do you find the most fulfilling?
MB: Songwriting is the most creative part of what I do, and I get the most personal satisfaction from it, because when you write a song it is something that lasts. For me it happens quickly. I’ll hear a word or read a line and it just starts flowing. The words come first. Sometimes I write the best when there’s some kind of white noise in the background: the sound of car wheels going around, or a train on the railroad tracks. The noise sets up a rhythm in my mind and the process clicks in.
GR: You are famous in the music world for sticking with the same players. What about the guys you are bringing to San Miguel? Have they all been with you for a long time?
MB: My bass player, Don Bennet, has been with me for 27 years. I got him before I got my last husband. But some of the other guys are newer. My guitar player is Matt Giles and I used to play with his father. I’ve been doing this so long that I now find myself hiring the children of people I played with in the eighties.
GR: And how about that elusive Grammy?
MB: We’re hoping to get nominated for Peace, Love & BBQ—the ballots just went out—and maybe it’ll be fourth time’s a charm.
Peace, Love & BBQ debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Blues Album chart, so it’s looking good. And as hot as the Marcia Ball concert promises to be, her opening act—the Gabriel Hernández Project—will be no less intense. San Miguel’s own Hernández will be joined by Cubano musicians from all over the world, including New York City drumming sensation Francisco Mela, who shook the Peralta to its 135-year-old foundations during his two festival appearances last year.
The Jazz and Blues Festival in San Miguel is being brought to you by lead sponsor Coates/Dolan, the developer of Vista Antigua and other San Miguel communities. Tickets go on sale mid-November at the Peralta box office. To learn more about the festival lineup, go to www.sanmigueljazz.com.
Glenda Robinson is co-producer of the festival.
International Jazz and Blues Festival
Teatro Ángela Peralta, 8pm, Mesones 82
Tickets: 350/300/200/100 pesos
Sat, Nov 29 Antonio Sanchez Trio/Daline Jones opens
Sun, Nov 30 Marcia Ball/Gabriel Hernández Project opens
Mon, Dec 1 Don Grusin & Oscar Castro-Neves/Jimmy Dillon opens
Tue, Dec 2 Iraida Noriega/Ken Bichel opens
Wed, Dec 3 Betsy Pecanins/Peter Welker & Randy Vincent open
Thu, Dec 4 Jazz Tribute to the Beatles; N. Illinois Univ. Jazz Lab Band opens
Free Concerts in the Jardín
Fri, Nov 28, 6pm San Miguel Jazz Cats
Sat, Nov 29, 4pm Gabriel Hernández Trio
Wed, Dec 3, 4pm N. Illinois Univ. Jazz Lab Band
Free Concert at La Luciérnaga
Sun, Nov 30, 4pm Ken Basman Trio
Free Bilingual Clinics, noon
Auditorio Miguel Malo, Bellas Artes, Hernández Macías 75
Mon, Dec 1 Randy Vincent, “Jazz Guitar”
Tue, Dec 2 Jimmy Dillon, “Playing the Blues”
Wed, Dec 3 Iraida Noriega, “Jazz Vocals”
Special Events at Vista Antigua office, Independencia 21
Sun, Nov 30, 11:30am–2pm Meet the Artists Champagne Brunch (150 pesos)
Wed, Nov 3, 5–7pm Meet the Artists Cocktail Reception (100 pesos)
Tickets on sale at the Vista Antigua office and at all La Conexión locations (Aldama 3, Libramiento San Miguel a Dolores 11, Plaza Real del Conde)
Benefit Concert
Klezmerson
Fri, Nov 14, 7:30pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
100/80 pesos
Klezmerson, a musical group based in Mexico City, plays a unique style of music that pushes the notion of fusion to new limits. Their singular sound mixes a wide variety of world rhythms, instruments and musical styles, particularly klezmer, an Eastern European Jewish musical tradition that dates back to biblical times.
The concert, sponsored by the municipal government and the nonprofit organization Instituto de Conservación de la Cultura, is part of the San Miguel Sustentable forum being held November 9–15.
Party with a Gypsy flair
Concert
Javier “Gitano” Estrada
Gypsy guitar and voice
Fri, Nov 14, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos
Guitarist Javier Estrada sings and plays Noche de fiesta gitana (gypsy party night). His light touch on the strings and the melodies of the gypsies will set an intimate mood with the enchanting music from the south of Spain. Limited seating; tickets available at the theater box office.
Harper vs. harpist
By Gabriela Servin
Concert
Folklore harp and flamenco guitar
Sergio Basurto
Thu, Nov 13, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos, limited seating
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A person who plays the harp is called a
harper or a harpist. Typically, folk/Celtic musicians prefer the term
harper, whereas classical/pedal musicians prefer harpist. |
In the 1600s,
Jesuit missionaries took the later Spanish or Renaissance harp to the New World
and it developed in a completely different way. The instrument fascinated indigenous peoples, who changed it and adopted it as part of their own culture. The many kinds of Latin American harps include the Venezuelan, the Mexican and arpa llanera (harp of the plain). These harps are quite different in construction and playing techniques from traditional European harps. They are made of thin wood (cedar and pine) and are much lighter. Playing styles are vibrant and dynamic, in contrast to the softer European tone. Sergio Basurto plays traditional rhythms from Latin America and Mexico on the folklore harp this Thursday. Tickets are on sale at the theater box office.
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