3/2: 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.
3/9: Spain's Modern Masters
Musical colors of Spain experienced through chamber works for string quartet, piano quintet and guitar solo by Spanish composers of the 20th and 21rst centuries: Joquín Turina, José Evangelista, and José Luis Greco.
3/16: Hidden Gems of Julián Orbón y Joan Manén
This edition of The Spanish Hour features works by two composers “ocultos a plena vista;” that is, hidden in plain sight: Spanish-born Cuban composer Julián Orbón’s Concerto grosso, written in 1958 by, and Barcelona native Joan Manén’s Concierto Espagnol for violin and orchestra, written in 1923 and dedicated to Fritz Kreisler.
3/23: La Zarzuela barroca / Baroque Zarzuelas
Not to be confused with the popular operettas and lyric operas popular in Spain from the 1850s through the mid-20th century, the zarzuelas on this program date from the 18th century, combining Spanish folklore with Greek mythology. On this edition of The Spanish Hour, we’ll hear baroque zarzuelas by José de Nebra, the father of Spanish opera; Mallorca's Antonio de Literes; Tomás Milans, master of the sacred zarzuela; and Vicente Martín y Soler, "the Valencian Mozart."
3/30: Spanish Romances for Violin
This week’s edition of The Spanish Hour features romantic violin show-stoppers from the late 19th-century, a golden age for the Spanish virtuoso perfomer-composer: Sarasate's Zapateado and Carmen Fantasy, Monasterio's Grand Fantasy for violin and piano, based on well-known Spanish folk tunes, and three concert pieces for violin and orchestra by Enrique Fernández Arbós. With GIl Shaham, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Manuel Guillén, Ara Malikian, and Jesús Lopez Cobos.