Chicago Sun-Times, Saturday September 18, 2010
CSO tribute to Mexican culture
Free concert features work by nation's icons
This year marks not only the bicentennial of the launch of Mexico's War of Independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution but also the first century of steady Mexican migration to Chicago, and the extraordinary role that this vibrant community has played in the city's economic, cultural, political, and social development.
As the Chicago Symphony Orchestra kicked off its 2010-11 season with a free concert at the brand-new auditorium of Benito Juárez Community Academy in Pilsen, the pride of this community was palpable. Reflecting the American urban pageant where Roman Catholics and then Jews were at first only grudgingly recognized by major cultural institutions and Blacks and many other ethnics had to wait more decades for acknowledgement, there was a sense Thursday night at the concert that one of the city's largest populations was at last receiving its due.
[Carlos Miguel Prieto, music director of the National Symphonic Orchestra of Mexico, conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Benito Juárez Community Academy. (Keith Hale/Sun-Times)]
Welcomed by Benito Juárez Principal Juan Carlos Ocon, Ald. Danny Solis (25th), Mexican Consul General Manuel Rodríguez Arriaga and CSO President Deborah Rutter, the full house seemed almost in shock when guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, music director of the National Symphonic Orchestra of Mexico, motioned them to stand and then led the Mexican national anthem. Following this immediately with "The Star-Spangled Banner," Prieto then added his own welcome, echoing Rodríguez in saying that the artistic and musical contributions of Mexicans were influenced by Europeans and Americans and also influenced those worlds in return.
Prieto, a podium charmer, started his program, which reflected the Germanic roots of the CSO, with a lively performance of the 1894-95 Richard Strauss tone poem Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. He slyly pointed out that the translation of the work's title in Spanish, "Las divertidas travesuras de . . . " ("The Many Mischiefs of . . . "), was probably more accurate than the English.
Three key works of the Mexican classical repertoire followed, each drawing on folkloric melodies, dances, rhythms, and other influences. Two of these were classics of Mexico's Nationalist School, encouraged by Mexican composer Carlos Chávez and American Aaron Copland: Blas Galindo's 1940 Sones de mariachi and José Pablo Moncayo's 1941 Huapango. The audience cheered and applauded when certain popular tunes made their appearances in the pieces.
Arturo Márquez composed his 1994 Danzón No. 2 more than 40 years after the end of strict musical nationalism in Mexico, and even though its dance form is Cuban, the work too has become a Mexican and Latin American classic. The CSO embraced the idiom of these pieces, with such soloists as assistant principal trumpet Mark Ridenour especially standing out.
The cross-cultural exchange of both art and emotions was further underscored by Prieto's choice of an encore, the Intermedio from the 1897 Gerónimo Giménez "zarzuela" La boda de Luis Alonso, a Spanish work adopted by Mexican mariachis and here played to a cheering crowd by an American classical orchestra in Chicago.
The CSO's fall observance of "México 2010" continues for the next month with CSO, Civic Orchestra, MusicNOW, and Symphony Center Presents programs. New CSO music director Riccardo Muti comes to the Juarez campus Saturday morning, October 9, to lead a Civic Orchestra open rehearsal of music of Chávez and Beethoven.
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