(The del Valle Brothers, serving up very tasty Poulenc with a side of deFalla)
[gordon-donate]
(believe me, if I didn't absolutely have to . . .)
This week's concert takes us back over to Spain to an Orchestra I'm not familiar with, a conductor I'm not familiar with, a Piano duo I'm not familiar with and one Spanish composer I'm not familiar with.
Well, what is life without adventure . . right? I was very pleasantly surprised by just how good this band sounds, Orquesta Sinfonica de la Region de Murcia and how good this conductor (Jose Miguel Rodilla) is and the piano duo of Luis and Victor del Valle really did some nice stuff to the Poulenc double Piano concerto, as well as an encore of pieces from La Vida Breve by deFalla. And I've got to do some research on Manuel Manrique de Lara, whose Symphonic poem Agamenon had me wanting to find out more about this composer.
All in all, what a good concert is supposed to be all about - pleasant surprises and discoveries.
It comes from Radio Nacional Espana from one of their daily matinee concerts recorded on November 6, 2009. I'm really rather blown away by the fact that RNE cranks out three of these concerts a day; one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. And, even though some of the concerts are beamed from other parts of the world, most of what you hear is homegrown with mostly local talent. There is something to be said about the state of Arts and Culture in Spain right now and it's pretty high.
As always, the concert is complete - in addition to the de Lara and Poulenc pieces, the second half of the concert is the Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony. A familiar work, but with a fresh perspective.
So here's the rundown:
Matinés de Radio Clásica
Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia.
Concierto celebrado en el Auditorio y Centro de Congresos Víctor Villegas de Murcia el 6 de Noviembre de 2009.MANRIQUE DE LARA: Agamenón. POULENC: Concierto para dos pianos y orquesta en Re menor. CHAIKOVSKY: Sinfonía nº 4 en Fa menor, Op. 36. Luis y Victor del Valle (p.), Orq. Sinf. de la Región de Murcia. Dir.: Jose Miguel Rodilla.
Top player (up there) is the de Lara and Poulenc (and de Falla encore). Bottom player (down here) is the Tchaikovsky.
Announcements are in Spanish, so is the orchestra, so are the performers. The music is universal.
Something to take on the road with you.
