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The Spanish Hour focuses on composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mondays at 10p

7/1 Alfedo Kraus Born in the Canary Islands in 1927, Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was widely regarded as the greatest tenor of his generation. This week on The Spanish Hour, Alfredo Kraus in selections from zarzuelas by Bretón and Fernández, as well as a song cycle by Joaquín Turina.

Headshot of Isaac Albéniz surrounded by images of Spain
Matt Herring
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classical-music.com

7/8 Enfoque: Manuel María Ponce Manuel María Ponce was one of the great geniuses of Mexican music. An avid musicologist, Ponce used his vast collection of traditional Mexican folksongs in his romantic works, a synthesis he thought crucial for his country’s cultural evolution. We’ll feature the 24 guitar preludes, romantic pieces for piano, as well as Concierto del Sur, perhaps his best-known work.

7/15 Enfoque: Xavier Montsalvatge One of the so-called "lost generation" of Spanish composers, first gaining wide-spread recognition in the 1940s, pianist, critic, and composer Xavier Montsalvatge was influenced by antillanismo, neo-Romanticism, and French impressionism, especially Ravel. This edition of The Spanish Hour with Candice Agree features his most famous work: Cinco canciones negras, plus works for string quartet, piano, as well as selections from the opera El Gato con botas (Puss in Boots.)

7/22 Enfoque: Fernando Sor In the 19th century, the guitar was still thought of as something heard at village fairs, an easy to strum instrument, meant for nothing more than to accompany popular songs, not a solo instrument to be applauded in the concert hall. Fernando Sor changed all that by creating a virtuosic repertory for the guitar that earned him the sobriquet "The Beethoven of the Guitar." We'll hear guitar solos, duets, and songs for voice and guitar, performed by Segovia, Starobin, and others.

7/29 Enfoque: Spain’s Modern Masters Chamber works for string quartet, piano quintet, and guitar solo by 20th- and 21rst-century composers Joaquín Turina, José Evangelista, and José Luis Greco.

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