Violinist María Dueñas, dazzling and overwhelming in Lalo’s ‘Symphonie espagnole’ | Culture | EUROtoday

Alberto Bachmann, in his traditional An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1925), maintains that the success of the Spanish Symphony, Op. 21by Édouard Lalo, lies in the truth that “it offers a display of virtuosity while remaining deeply musical.” This Geneva pedagogue provides exact observations concerning the model he heard of this work for violin and orchestra, composed in 1874, by its dedicatee, the legendary Pablo de Sarasate: “No other violinist has managed to play it with such prodigious art, combining grace, clear brilliance and disconcerting vitality to such a remarkable degree.”

It is particularly revealing to narrate Bachmann’s observations with the spectacular efficiency supplied by the younger violinist María Dueñas (Granada, 22 years previous) final Friday the 14th on the Zaragoza Auditorium. A efficiency a part of a global tour with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) beneath the course of Antonio Pappano, which started on the eleventh in Valencia and can culminate on the twenty second within the Austrian city of Eisenstadt, after passing by way of Madrid, Seville, Ferrara and Berlin.

Dueñas imposed his character from the primary solo of the not too cheerful. He didn’t fail to fantastically intensify the triplets that run by way of the whole motion, giving them an unmistakable Spanish taste. However, his impeccable shows of virtuosity didn’t overshadow the tenderness of the second theme, the place he insisted on the dolceexcessive the dynamics and coloring his phrases with beautiful behaviors. At the beginning of the following motion, jokingevoked the refined glide on the second string that, in response to Bachmann, Sarasate used to carry out, and flew over the remaining with a combination of fantasy and weightlessness typical of the seguidilla air that permeates the piece.

He dazzled once more within the interlude central. His naturalness in singing this evocation of the habanera earlier than the opera Carmen —and certainly additionally impressed by The association by Sebastián Iradier—was merely prodigious. Impeccable within the a number of cascades of notes and bow strokes, he endowed his musical speech with refined dynamic nuances admirably projected with the Nicolò Gagliano violin he performs, on mortgage from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. In the fourth motion, andanteas soon as once more fascinated by his fantasy in phrasing and coloring the sound, but in addition by his poise in going through the transient and demanding cadence.

However, this unforgettable interpretation of the Spanish Symphony It nonetheless lacked the fruits of vitality that the rondo finish. It was one other dazzling show of virtuosity, with passages of extraordinary readability and admirable precision, however with out ever renouncing to reinforce the musicality of the work. We see this within the calmest passage, the place Lalo evokes a passionate malagueña and Dueñas expanded his expressive palette till reaching a pianissimo nearly whispered within the ear of every viewer.

The immense applause from the general public led to 2 suggestions. The first was a chic deference to the orchestra’s wonderful strings, with an association of The tune of the birdsthe normal Catalan Christmas carol popularized by Pau Casals as a logo of peace, though on this event with solo violin to which was added a small remaining solo by Pau Codina from Barcelona, ​​principal cellist of the COE. The second was the Vals unhappy (1913) by the Hungarian virtuoso Franz von Vecsey, carried out with out piano accompaniment. A remaining pattern of Dueñas’ rhapsodic model, together with his unmistakable method of wriggling with tempo and dynamics, which has so fascinated in his most up-to-date recording for Deutsche Grammophon, the place he musically magnifies the devilish whims of Paganini

An vital a part of the success of the primary half of the live performance, centered on María Dueñas and the Spanish Symphonywas based mostly on the wonderful accompaniment of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, performed by Antonio Pappano. A luxurious orchestra and an distinctive conductor who knew the right way to improve the character and a number of musical inflections of Lalo’s work. Pappano himself alluded to this excellence in a video recorded in Bologna in the course of the preparation of this tour, during which he evoked the survival of the spirit of Claudio Abbado on this orchestra based in 1981, in addition to the imprint of Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

The second a part of this system was restricted to eight Slavic dances op. 46composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and orchestrated by him after the publishing success of the unique model for four-hand piano. Common works reminiscent of suggestions, however rare as the only real core of a program. In any case, the interpretation was impeccable inside a coherent strategy, unified by the evocation of Spanish and Czech dances.

Pappano efficiently managed the contrasts of the raging preliminary, alternated melancholy and vivacity within the dumka who adopted him, and located lightness within the polka. The pastoral and heat character of the neighborly was convincing, there was no lack of a contact of effectiveness within the frenetic jumpy in A significant, and the country magnificence of the next was underlined neighborly. To the seventh dance, one other jumpy however in C minor, it lacked theatricality, and the cycle concluded with an impetuous and well-articulated raging.

Confirmation of the monotony of this program devoted fully to the Slavic dances of the primary Dvořák got here with the tip, launched by Pappano himself, who addressed the viewers in Spanish to thank them for his or her heat welcome and added: “we have one more dance and it may be the most beautiful of all.” Then the attractive mazurka in E minor, second of the Slavic dances op. 72composed between 1886 and 1887 by a extra mature Dvořák from a symphonic viewpoint. Without a doubt, it might have been a extra enticing cycle resulting from its extra elaborate orchestration and better musical richness. In any case, this piece supplied as a tip was the most effective of the second half, due to the melancholic inflections within the strings and the naturalistic turns within the wooden, the place Clara Andrada, solo flutist of the ensemble, stood out.