Joaquin Rodrigo
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901–1999) would have been ninety-seven today. Blind since the age of three, he enriched Spanish music and the ears of all who love to listen to it!
We begin with a short guitar work by Rodrigo, the “Pastorale,” played by guitarist Ernesto Bitetti. Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony” is given a cheerful performance by the English String Orchestra under William Boughton. How could it not be cheerful, with movement names like “Boisterous Bourée,” “Playful Pizzicato,” “Sentimental Saraband,” and “Frolicsome Finale.” By the way, Britten was born this day in 1913. Boccherini’s Symphony in A, Opus 35, No. 3 takes us to the Spain of 1776, the land where Luigi spent most of his life. Chiara Banchini conducts the Ensemble 415.
Pepe Romero is the featured guitarist as we return to Rodrigo. This time we hear the “Concierto de aranjuez,” perhaps the composer’s most beloved and familiar work. Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields provide splendid support.
Couperin’s Suite No. 2 for viola da gamba and continuo offers gambist Jordi Savall ample material to show off his mastery of that original instrument. Andrei Gavrilov is the featured soloist in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Simon Rattle leading the London Symphony Orchestra.
Our last hour brings music by Mendelssohn. We hear Lev Markiz conduct Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam in the String Symphony No. 9 in C, one of thirteen that Felix wrote before he had reached his 16th year. The maturity and invention shown in these early works is even more remarkable than anything composed by the Mozart of that same age. A second Wunderkind to celebrate!
We begin with a short guitar work by Rodrigo, the “Pastorale,” played by guitarist Ernesto Bitetti. Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony” is given a cheerful performance by the English String Orchestra under William Boughton. How could it not be cheerful, with movement names like “Boisterous Bourée,” “Playful Pizzicato,” “Sentimental Saraband,” and “Frolicsome Finale.” By the way, Britten was born this day in 1913. Boccherini’s Symphony in A, Opus 35, No. 3 takes us to the Spain of 1776, the land where Luigi spent most of his life. Chiara Banchini conducts the Ensemble 415.
Pepe Romero is the featured guitarist as we return to Rodrigo. This time we hear the “Concierto de aranjuez,” perhaps the composer’s most beloved and familiar work. Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields provide splendid support.
Couperin’s Suite No. 2 for viola da gamba and continuo offers gambist Jordi Savall ample material to show off his mastery of that original instrument. Andrei Gavrilov is the featured soloist in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Simon Rattle leading the London Symphony Orchestra.
Our last hour brings music by Mendelssohn. We hear Lev Markiz conduct Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam in the String Symphony No. 9 in C, one of thirteen that Felix wrote before he had reached his 16th year. The maturity and invention shown in these early works is even more remarkable than anything composed by the Mozart of that same age. A second Wunderkind to celebrate!
