Miguel del 脕guila is the piano soloist in his 鈥淐onga,鈥 which closes the 疯客直播 Fe Symphony program and goes so fast he won鈥檛 have time to look at conductor Guillermo Figueroa.听
Orchestra concerts of music from south of our growing border wall are no longer a rarity, but they often draw from a limited repertory. That鈥檚 not the case with the 疯客直播 Fe Symphony鈥檚 Music of Latin America concert on Sunday, February 23.
Music Director Guillermo Figueroa and the symphony鈥檚 programming committee have cast a wider net than usual with this program, in terms of featured soloists as well as works being played.
鈥淚 had two big suggestions for this concert,鈥 Figueroa says. 鈥淲ell, more than two, actually, but I knew I wanted to include something by my very dear friend, composer Miguel del 脕guila. I鈥檝e championed his music for a long time, and he鈥檚 going to be the piano soloist in performing his 鈥楥onga鈥 with us.
疯客直播 Fe Symphony conductor Guillermo Figueroa was the violin soloist on this 2023 recording of Miguel del Aguila鈥檚 orchestral works.
鈥淚 also suggested a wonderful symphony by my fellow Puerto Rican Roberto Sierra,鈥 Figueroa continues, 鈥渨hich I鈥檓 thrilled to be able to do.鈥
疯客直播 Fe鈥檚 symphony is unusual among American orchestras in that its members determine the repertory in collaboration with the music director. It鈥檚 a process that can sometimes be slow and frustrating, he admits, but there鈥檚 also a significant benefit. 鈥淭here is not one single person who determines anything in this organization,鈥 Figueroa says, 鈥渟o everybody feels like they are the organization.鈥
He鈥檚 also quick to give credit to oboist Rebecca Ray, who chairs the programming committee. 鈥淪he鈥檚 made a huge difference to us in the last couple of years by advocating for greater diversity in the composers that we present,鈥 Figueroa says. 鈥淪he comes to every meeting with six or seven recommendations in that area.鈥
One of them might have been the work that opens the concert, which was composed by native 疯客直播 F茅an Ariel Ram铆rez (1921-2010).
His Misa Criolla (Creole Mass) was inspired by the Second Vatican Council鈥檚 1963 declaration allowing the Mass to be performed in languages other than Latin and by the composer鈥檚 chance meeting with two German sisters who had smuggled food into a nearby concentration camp during World War II.
鈥淚 felt that I had to compose something deep and religious that would revere life and involve people beyond their creeds, race, color, or origin,鈥 the composer said at the time of its writing in 1964. The result is 鈥渨idely regarded as a stunning artistic achievement,鈥 wrote TheWashington Post. 鈥淚ts effect is that of a reverent carnival.鈥
Misa Criolla reflects Ram铆rez鈥檚 deep passion for the music of his homeland鈥檚 Indigenous populations, as well as that of its Creoles and gauchos. (It probably should have been mentioned earlier that Ram铆rez鈥檚 疯客直播 F茅 is the one in Argentina.)
The circa 20-minute piece features a unique performing roster 鈥 string bass, guitar, keyboard, three percussionists, and a single singer. Carmen Fl贸rez-Mansi, director of the symphony鈥檚 choral group, conducts it here, in a 1964 arrangement with chorus instead of solo voice.
Sierra鈥檚 Sinfonia No. 3, subtitled 鈥淟a Salsa,鈥 was composed in 2005; its 2007 recording by the Orquesta Sinf贸nica de Puerto Rico won the Serge and Olga Koussevitzky International Recording Award.
The 71-year-old composer is highly regarded in the music world. In 2010, Sierra was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and seven years later, he received the Tom谩s Luis de Victoria Prize, Spain鈥檚 highest musical honor, which is awarded to a composer of Spanish or Latin American origin.
Roberto Sierra鈥檚 Sinfonia No. 3 features famous Puerto Rican salsa rhythms and melodies in each of its four movements.听
While much of Sierra鈥檚 output is 鈥渧ery abstract, with complicated harmonies and very flamboyant figurations,鈥 as Figueroa describes it, this one has a much different quality. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very driven, with a lot of percussion, so I think it鈥檚 going to be very exciting for the audience. Roberto uses familiar salsa styles in each movement and even uses melodies of some famous old songs of Puerto Rico.鈥
As an example, the conductor cites 鈥淒anzas,鈥 the work鈥檚 third movement. 鈥淭he danza is an elegant form of dance, akin to the Johann Strauss waltzes, and he actually quotes two of them here, which I know, of course. I鈥檝e heard them all my life.鈥
Figueroa has known Sierra almost as long as he鈥檚 heard the salsas, 鈥渟ince we were kids before college,鈥 he says. Then they both attended San Juan鈥檚 Conservatorio de M煤sica de Puerto Rico, where Sierra 鈥渨as a pianist, and not a particularly great one at that. He was a very nice guy, but nobody thought he would achieve very much.鈥
Many years later, Figueroa noticed that the Philadelphia Orchestra was playing a piece by a Roberto Sierra. 鈥淢y first thought was, 鈥極h, how funny! This guy has the same name as the guy I was in school with,鈥欌 he says. 鈥淚t turned out to be the same guy, and now he is an absolute master of composing.鈥
The Argentinian composer-performer JP Jofre is one of today鈥檚 masters of the bandone贸n, the concertina-like instrument that is the bedrock of tango music. He joins Figueroa and the orchestra after the intermission for Astor Piazzolla鈥檚 Concerto for Bandone贸n and Orchestra, which dates from 1979.
Jofre grew up in a family of passionate music lovers, although his initial tastes were far different from theirs. 鈥淎t first I was more into rock music, like heavy, heavy rock, and then I went to jazz,鈥 he tells Pasatiempo. 鈥淎fter that, it was classical music. But when I heard Piazzolla鈥檚 music, I felt that I could make a bridge between rock, jazz, and classical music with tango and the bandone贸n.鈥
While accordions and concertinas have a somewhat limited musical palette, the same isn鈥檛 true for Jofre鈥檚 instrument of choice. Asked how he communicates different emotional states through his playing, Jofre says, 鈥淭he secret is to connect your body with the instrument. All the emotions we feel in our souls or in our minds, can come out through our hands and our fingers.
鈥淲ith the violin, you have the vibratos that can simulate the human voice, and we have them too with the bandone贸n. Also accents and staccatos and lots of other effects. It鈥檚 a very sensitive instrument. The bandone贸n also has a nostalgic and romantic quality, like you鈥檙e hearing something out of the past.鈥
Miguel del 脕guila is the piano soloist in his 鈥淐onga,鈥 which closes the 疯客直播 Fe Symphony program and goes so fast he won鈥檛 have time to look at conductor Guillermo Figueroa.听
Jofre says he keeps discovering new aspects to the concerto every time he plays it. 鈥淭he music is dramatic, it鈥檚 exciting, but it鈥檚 also very surrealistic,鈥 he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also something very contemporary about Piazzolla鈥檚 music, like Stravinsky at times.鈥
Miguel del 脕guila, whose 鈥淐onga鈥 closes the program and will play the demanding piano part himself, has some news for conductor Figueroa 鈥 he鈥檚 not planning on following him.
It鈥檚 not a big ego at work or the fear that the symphony鈥檚 music director isn鈥檛 up to the job. 鈥淚f the pianist follows the conductor, the whole thing doesn鈥檛 work,鈥 del 脕guila tells Pasatiempo. 鈥淭he piano is like the engine. It鈥檚 like if you have a carriage 鈥 the horses have to lead, not follow.鈥
He also thinks of the piano as fulfilling the role of the harpsichord in a Baroque orchestra. 鈥淚 pretty much turned the whole orchestra into a Latin band,鈥 he says, 鈥渁nd the piano provides the rhythmic edge. It also pushes everybody through these crazy tempo changes so that they are clearer.鈥
In his program notes, del 脕guila described the genesis of 鈥淐onga,鈥 which started as a dream in which the composer saw 鈥渁n endless line of dead people dancing through the fire of hell.鈥 Then he started to hear the music, which seemed to be 鈥渇lowing spontaneously out of me in an effort to entertain and alleviate the pain of those poor souls.鈥 As soon as he woke up, he wrote down the music as he remembered it. 鈼
Mark Tiarks attended Carleton College, studied opera and theater in London as a Watson Foundation fellow, then served in leadership positions with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Chicago鈥檚 Court Theater, Chicago Opera Theater, and the 疯客直播 Fe Opera.
