Manila-born soprano Andión Fernández and Spanish musician Alberto Urroz take center stage at the CCP Little Theater on August 21 to pay tribute to Enrique Granados, pianist and composer with a uniquely Spanish style, offering a special concert of piano music and art songs organized by the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines and Instituto Cervantes de Manila in collaboration with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with the patronage of Turkish Airlines and Rustan’s.
The Philippine capital joins other music-loving cities around the world in doing homage to Granados which comes a hundred years after the artist drowned in the English Channel while attempting in vain to save his wife—tragic casualties of the unrestricted submarine attacks of the First World War.
The concert explores three aspects of Granados’ diverse oeuvre for piano, which go far beyond the narrow stereotypes of Spanish music only too familiar in most countries. Granados’ love of old Spanish music is exemplified in his re-composition of Domenico Scarlatti’s “G major harpsichord sonata, K 520”.
The ballad “El amor y la muerte” from the monumental piano suite “Goyescas” reveals the profound inspiration Granados drew from Spanish art and culture. Finally, the varied faces of Spanish folk music are represented in three of his colorful Danzas españolas.
An unusual but fitting tribute to Granados is offered by the Berlin-based Filipino composer Jeffrey Ching as, following in the Spanish artist´s footsteps, he adds his own Sonata Domenica to the “Scarlattiana” tradition that Granados began. The work is dedicated to Alberto Urroz, who will be giving its world premiere at this concert.
The second half of the program consists of three highly individual song cycles that illustrate once again the extreme contrasts to be found among Spanish composers: Granados’ “Tonadillas en estilo antiguo”, Mompou’s “Combat del somni” and De Falla’s well-known “Siete canciones populares españolas”.
On Soprano Andión Fernández
International award-winning Filipino-Spanish soprano Andión Fernández graduated with honors from the Universität der Künste in Berlin and studied voice with Karan Armstrong and contemporary music with Aribert Reimann. She has sung in major concert halls and opera houses across Asia and Europe, and was a soloist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2001 to 2010.
On Alberto Urroz
Spanish pianist Alberto Urroz graduated with honors from the Royal Conservatory in Madrid where he studied with Joaquín Soriano. He is a professor of piano at Alfonso X University in Madrid and at Arturo Soria Madrid Conservatory, and a founding member of the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) in Spain where he serves as secretary.
Entrance is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information please log on to Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.
