January 30, 2009, Samuel Zyman’s Quintet premieres, By Beverly Russell, Musical magician, By Kirsten Dehner, Music to My Ears, By John Bills, Gypsy guitar concert benefits CEREKA, By Colin Hanlen, Gypsy music night, Jazz, classical and the exotic, Folklore harp and flamenco guitar, By Gaby Servin, Latin Soul is back

Samuel Zyman’s Quintet premieres
By Beverly Russell January 30, 2009 San Miguel de Allende

Pro Musica Concerts
Carlos Chavez String Quartet
Sat–Sun, Feb 7–8, 5pm
St Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
200/150/80 pesos

The distinguished Mexican composer Samuel Zyman’s latest chamber music work, Quintet for Guitar and Strings, will be performed at a world premiere by the Carlos Chavez String Quartet with Roberto Limon, guitar. A special wine and botanas reception follows, free to everyone who attends this musical celebration.

Pro Musica commissioned the new quintet as the third in its series of supporting contemporary Mexican composers.

Professor Zyman, a New York-based Juilliard faculty member, is acknowledged as one of today’s leading Mexican composers. Cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Carlos Prieto performed Zyman’s Suite for Two Cellos at two major sold-out concerts in 2007 in the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Commenting on Zyman’s numerous works that have been played all over the world, critics have described them as “seductive,” “hauntingly evocative,” “compelling,” “a feast for the senses,” and referred to them as similar to early twentieth-century impressionistic pieces by Debussy and Russian composers. Very often, he incorporates Mexican folk tunes and jazz forms in his compositions.

Zyman was born in Mexico City in 1956, where he studied piano and conducting at the National Conservatory of Music, and composition with Mexican composer Humberto Hernandez Medrano. He received degrees in composition from the Juilliard School and is the recipient of numerous grants and awards. He was named Most Outstanding Composer for the Year (1992) by the Mexican Society of Critics of Theater and Music, and was awarded the Mozart Medal for outstanding achievement in music by the Austrian Embassy in Mexico.

In addition to two symphonies, other orchestral pieces, songs and many chamber works, Zyman composed the original symphonic score for the movie The Other Conquest, directed by Salvador Carrasco. The Academy of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields recorded the score, conducted by David Snell, and it includes Zyman’s aria “Mater Aeterna,” performed by Placido Domingo.

Three works make up the program on both evenings. Each concert begins with a different Haydn quartet, followed on both nights by Boccherini’s Quintet No 4 in D Major “El Fandango.” The finale on both nights is the world premiere of Zyman’s Quintet for Guitar and Strings.

On Saturday, the program starts with Haydn’s Quartet in D Minor Opus 76 No. 2, composed in 1797, and commissioned by Count Joseph Erodody. Opus 76, the last set of 83 string quartets Haydn composed, is considered among his most ambitious chamber works. Haydn wrote the No. 2, known as Las Quintas or Fifths, while employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterhazy II, around the same time he composed his annual mass for Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterhazy and the oratorio The Creation.

The choice for Sunday is Haydn’s Quartet in G Major Opus 64 No. 4, written in 1790, one of six in the “Tost” set published in London while Haydn was on a tour. It is dedicated to Johann Tost who had been a violinist in his orchestra, but later became a successful cloth merchant.

Luigi Boccherini’s Quintet is one of over 100 chamber works written by the Italian composer and cellist. He was born in Lucca (1743-1805), a contemporary of Haydn, who was born in Vienna (1732-1809). They were both classical era composers, their music characterized by the typical Rococo charm, lightness and much melodic and rhythmic invention. Boccherini went to Vienna in 1757 with his son, where the two were employed as musicians in the Burgtheater. Boccherini is often credited with improving Haydn’s model of the string quartet by bringing the cello to prominence, whereas Haydn had always relegated it to an accompaniment role.

Boccherini eventually became a Spanish national and moved to Spain, a country that influenced the use of the guitar in his work. Hence the title of the work to be heard in these performances “El Fandango,” in which renowned maestro Roberto Limon plays the guitar with the Carlos Chavez String Quartet.

They performed the world premiere of a specially commissioned Pro Musica work by the celebrated Mexican composer Jesús Echevarria for Pro Musica a year ago at St Paul’s Church.

Tickets for concerts in the Pro Musica series are available from La Tienda in the Biblioteca, Insurgentes 25; Casa de Papel, Mesones 57; La Conexión, Aldama 3; and St. Paul’s weekdays 11am–2pm and at the door half an hour before concert time.

Beverly Russell studied music in London and sings in three San Miguel choirs: St. Paul’s, Madrigals y Mas and Voces Unidas.

Musical magician
By Kirsten Dehner

Music Theater
Secrets of the Heart
Sun, Feb 8 & 15, 7pm
Iguana Festival de Artes
Avenida Independencia 82
Colonia Independencia

Kirsten Dehner: I’m curious. Before we begin talking about your new show, can you tell me something about when your interest in music began?

Alicia Rappoport: Music is part of our lives before we ever take a breath. It begins with the rhythmic beating of the mother’s heart. It’s a language everyone understands and it comes before the word. It connects us to Being in a way that nothing else does. It’s why we dance. Music was also the ritual in my family that connected us to each other. I first heard Yiddish songs on my grandmother’s lap. My father loved Broadway tunes. In Argentina, where I grew up, he listened to the recordings over and over again. That’s when I knew he was happy. Dance was also important to us. I was a dancer before I was a singer.

KD: How did you transition from dancer to singer?

AR: I visited my brother in Brazil 28 years ago and I came across sacred musical traditions uniting dance, song and chant. I began to research ethnic folk idioms. I found Portuguese, African, Sufi, Sanskrit and Hebrew songs expressing similar human rituals through celebration and prayer: harvest, birth, death, courtship and weddings. This has excited me for a long time, plus studying the musical evolution of chant to song, to instrumental accompaniment, which lifted song to a new level of expression.

KD: What attracted you to more recent musical forms like the tango in your repertoire?

AR: It is strange that even though I’m Argentine, I began to sing tango only 13 years ago. Growing up, I didn’t pay attention. I was listening to the tunes my father loved, or the Beatles. Then, in Chile, I met film director Pedro Zandor, who taught me that the tango was a deep spiritual expression of the Argentine people. But it took a trip to India, where “tango” and “Argentina” were spoken in the same breath, for me see that tango was a language that touched everyone.

KD: And now you are singing classical arias. Tell me about that, and about how you see arias, the tango and the liturgical songs working together in this new show you’re putting together.

AR: I am always searching for the next musical experience in order to further my self- expression. So learning to sing arias was a way to challenge my voice and heart. I had the luck to find a remarkable teacher here in San Miguel, Joe McClain, my mentor and musical magician. It was his idea to combine arias with my long-standing repertoire of liturgy and tango to create a fully staged theater piece, or “music theater.” For this, I also have the help of Mexican director Octavio Castro from Mexico City (www.octaviocastro.com). Secrets of the Heart is a deepening of my artistic journey.

Music to My Ears
By John Bills

Rodrigo Garciarroyo & friends

Sanmiguelenses have come to expect something out of the ordinary in Rodrigo Garciarroyo’s annual concerts here, and the tenor did not disappoint last Saturday at Teatro Ángela Peralta when he presented an imaginative musical evening enhanced by dramatic lighting and staging by Jaime Razzo and featuring two colleagues, baritone Enrique Ángeles and bass Charles Oppenheim. What a pleasure to hear such musical and expressive singers who were confident and uniformly well-prepared and who performed with great camaraderie.

The varied program included opera arias and ensembles, zarzuela, music from Broadway and film, Argentine tangos and Mexican songs. Mario Alberto Hernández, the evening’s excellent pianist and music director, set the tone with the opening tango by Astor Piazzola, which segued seamlessly into “Il Mio Tesoro” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, sung with impressive breath control and a burnished tone by Garciarroyo.

The promising young Ángeles was introduced with a spry and vividly characterized “Largo al Factotum” from Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, sung with attractive tone and an easy top, and he later joined Garciarroyo for the great friendship duet from Verdi’s Don Carlo, a bit under-sung on this occasion. Oppenheim showed his buffo credentials with Leporello’s aria from Don Giovanni. With an exquisite mix of irony, comedy and sentiment, he rattled off the catalogue of the Don’s romantic conquests. As Dr. Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Oppenheim hoodwinked Garciarroyo’s naïve Nemorino into buying his magic elixir, guaranteed to make him irresistible to women, then had the tables turned on him by Ángeles in that masterpiece of patter-song, “Cheti, Cheti” from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, a rollicking performance, perfectly synchronized, that brought down the house. Interspersed were arias from Garciarroyo from Verdi’s Requiem and an especially strong “No, Pagliaccio, Non Son” from Leoncavallo’s I Pagliac
ci, filled with all the grief and murderous anger of the betrayed Canio.

The evening’s first half closed with the wonderful opening trio of Mozart’s Cosí fan Tutte, with Garciarroyo and Ángeles espousing the faithfulness of their respective girlfriends while Oppenheim’s old philosopher tells them that all women will be unfaithful, given the right set of temptations.

The second half of the evening found each singer re-energized in arias from Spanish zarzuelas. Garciarroyo was a stand-out in the “Romanza” from La Chulapona and in what has become his signature piece, a powerful “No Puede Ser” from Pablo Sorozábal’s 1936 La Taberna del Puerto. Especially interesting to encounter was Oppenheim’s moving “Despierta, Negro,” also from La Taberna del Puerto, an exhortation to wake up and realize how whites are exploiting blacks. A set of three songs in English were great crowd pleasers: Oppenheim kept to the theme with a resonant “Ol’ Man River,” Ángeles sang “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” and Garciarroyo movingly sang “Maria” from West Side Story. Then came tangos, first a favorite Piazzola tango for solo piano, “Adiós Nonino,” prompting cheers for Maestro Alberto, followed by three Carlos Gardel classics, stylishly sung by all, particularly Oppenheim’s fluid “Mi Buenos Aires Querido.” The program ended with an arrangement for the three singers of Agustín Lara’s familiar “Gra
nada.”

Following a tumultuous ovation, Garciarroyo responded with another Gardel tango, “Volver,” while the multitalented Ángeles played accordion. Finally, all the singers closed the evening in high spirits with an inspired trio arrangement of the Frank Sinatra hit “My Way.” It was a great close to a wonderfully entertaining evening, and, for me, a gratifying opportunity to observe the continuing development of Garciarroyo, from the charming, eager-to-please, somewhat rumpled young singer I first encountered three years ago to a seasoned, confident and polished professional. ¡Felicidades!

Between 1977 and 2004, John Bills sang more than 5,000 performances with the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center. He writes about music, film, food and wine.

Gypsy guitar concert benefits CEREKA
By Colin Hanlen

Concert
Javier Estrada
Mon, Feb 2, 7:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

Gypsy melodies and Javier Estrada’s light touch across the strings set an enchanted mood in a benefit concert for CEREKA, a rehabilitation center celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Dorothy Rojas started CEREKA in her home in 1993, where she trained local residents in kinesiology. She and her students worked together to assist a woman who was unable to walk, stand or sit. Their treatments were a success and CEREKA has continued to grow, now serving about 35 clients each week from a center at Privada de la Cruz 7 in Colonia San Antonio and from one in Dolores Hidalgo.

CEREKA currently has three paid staff and one regular volunteer who serve local community clients from infants to adults, treating aches and pains, injuries and stress, and even major body deformities and handicaps using a variety of modern treatments.

Some funding comes from Patronato Pro Niños, the Bernard Wiseman Foundation, San Miguel Community Foundation and several anonymous donors whom CEREKA. immensely appreciates and thanks. Clients make full or partial payment for the services of a psychologist, physical therapists, optometrist, massage therapist, mental health, family speech and writing therapist. Services are available in English and Spanish; prices vary with different services.

Currently expenses exceed income by about US$200 per month. CEREKA would be most grateful for regular donations of any amount! For more information, or to assist CEREKA, please stop by or call (415) 152-7795.

Tickets are available at the theater box office. For concerts at 7pm or after, enter through the Café Santa Ana entrance at Reloj 50A.

Gypsy music night

Javier Estrada
Fri, Jan 30, 7pm
Fri, Feb 6, 7pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

Guitarist Javier Estrada sings and plays noche de fiesta gitana, the enchanting music from the south. His light touch across the strings and the melodies of the gypsies set an intimate mood. These outstanding concerts are part of the Biblioteca Pública’s cultural program. Tickets are available at the theater box office. For concerts at 7pm or after, enter through the Café Santa Ana entrance at Reloj 50A. Seating is limited for Sala Quetzal events

Jazz, classical and the exotic

Concert
Antonio Cabrero Mendoza
Wed, Feb 4, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

Pianist Antonio Cabrero has a flair for combining his classical training with traditional jazz and his own exotic inspirations. He delighted San Miguel audiences twice this December. Cabrero is known throughout Mexico as a symphony conductor, but his piano concerts have assumed new relevance in recent years, due to his passion for improvising over jazz standards and music from Spain, Mexico and India.

Part of the program is a Gershwin medley. Then he takes to the flamenco music of Spain and Manuel de Falla, then back to Mexico with Huapango by Pablo Moncayo.

This concert is part of the Biblioteca Pública’s cultural program. Tickets are available at the theater box office. For concerts at 7pm or after, enter through the Café Santa Ana entrance at Reloj 50A. Seating is limited for Sala Quetzal events.

Folklore harp and flamenco guitar
By Gaby Servin

Concerts
Sergio Basurto
Mon, Feb 2, 7:30pm
Thu, Feb 5, 7:30pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos

The talented Sergio Basurto Valencia presents two concerts combining his extensive knowledge of Latin American rhythms with his repertoire of flamenco rhythms and toques.

Born in Mexico City, Basurto learned to play the Mexican harp from distinguished folklore musicians and further acquired Paraguayan harp techniques and many others from South American countries.

Basurto enjoys playing for audiences unfamiliar with this music. He also is dedicated to fostering appreciation of the folk harp and teaches it to enthusiastic musicians who want to try it.

Basurto plays melodies from Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay and Brazil, then turns to his guitar and plays the flamenco rhythms introduced by the Spanish during the colonial epoch. He lets us know how these rhythms are at the core and essence of the Latin American melodies, though softened by the different nature of the musicians.

His concerts are part of the Biblioteca Pública’s cultural program. Tickets are available at the theater box office. For concerts at 7pm or after, enter through the Café Santa Ana entrance at Reloj 50A. Seating is limited for Sala Quetzal events

Latin Soul is back

Sunday Matinee Concert Series
Xavier Hernández & Liliana Gutiérrez
Sun, Feb 1, 2:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
80 pesos

Tenor Xavier Hernández and pianist Liliana Gutiérrez repeat “Latin Soul” due to the full-house success of last Sunday’s concert. Buy your ticket in advance this time to assure you are not left out.

Hernández, who also is a skilled flautist and his wife Liliana are a remarkable pair of musicians who direct the Children’s Choir Kantaré at the Biblioteca Pública along with the community choir Voces Unidas and the St. Paul’s Church Choir. These groups present several concerts throughout the year and their Christmas concert is now a holiday tradition in San Miguel.

Their program features Latin American themes with pieces by Astor Piazolla, Manuel M. Ponce, María Grever and others.

This concert is part of the Biblioteca Pública’s cultural program. Tickets are available at the theater box office. For concerts at 7pm or after, enter through the Café Santa Ana entrance at Reloj 50A.