Great party atmosphere in Riojafórum, with a packed audience, for the ONE concert with Pablo Sainz-Villegas at the Aranjuez Concert. It had been years since such a full house had been seen at a classical concert, so us regular music lovers were … a little misplaced, although happy to see so much popular interest. The concert opened with a work by Laura Vega (1978), resident composer of this festival, premiered by the ONE on May 30, 2021 commemorating the centenary of the death of Mr. Benito Pérez Galdós, which occurred in 1920. The work is very pleasant to listen to, with a harmonious language that is completely friendly to the public. It begins with a beautiful melody braided in counterpoint by the solo string quartet, as if symbolizing the beauty of the loving and passionate literature of the distinguished writer, to which the various wind instruments join until reaching a very expressive first climax, which goes exploring atmospheres and sound spaces of varied orchestral color and incessant contributions from a wide panoply of percussion instruments, leading to a final apotheosis that seems to evoke the titanic literary work of Galdós. It received a warm response from the public, with a loud ovation for the composer present on stage.
And the expected moment of the quintessential guitar concert arrived, the ‘Aranjuez’, which in the hands of Pablo Sainz-Villegas is a deeply emotional experience due to the depth of feelings it handles, in a display of subtle nuances, timely accents, dramatic silences. and heavenly phrasings, which make you feel the concert like you’ve never heard it before. It has been exactly ten years since his performance with the Castilla-León Orchestra in the same auditorium and I can still say that he rediscovered new emotions and sounds for me. The carefree joy of the initial Allegro con spirito was carried by orchestra and soloist with great ease and rapport, to give way to the famous Adagio, with that divine melody, at the same time luminous and serenely sad, where Pablo is placed at the center of all attention, with a unique version, impossible to beat, a deep and moving creation. The music relaxes in the final Allegro gentile, a feast for the senses and a final space of brilliance. Of course, to show off the encore offered (the same as ten years ago) of Tárrega’s Great Concert Jota and its spectacular performance, which always sets audiences all over the world on fire.
The second part was occupied by Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, one of the favorites of the deaf genius, which followed more pedestrian paths, with a reading of course very professional, but which failed to take flight, giving the impression of little rehearsal, like a efficient reading at first sight, but without rounding off sound, without adjusting attacks, without embellishing phrasing, with good individual interventions, but without achieving a clear collective voice. The young Chilean conductor Luis Toro, with an excellent professional resume, failed to give heights to this seventh by Beethoven, at least in its first three movements, because in the final Allegro con brio, he did achieve an overflowing energy and an electrifying reading that aroused the enthusiasm of the audience, giving us a very wise tip: the orchestral version of the famous Keyboard Sonata by Mateo Albéniz from Logroño (1755-1831).
One complaint: the hand program omits the breakdown of the movements of the concert and the symphony, as happens with some frequency in Riojafórum. I consider it necessary to indicate them. There it is.
#Argentina
