MIGUEL DE CERVANTES IN SPANISH CONTEMPORARY PIANO Commemorating four hundred years since the death of Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), this project presents Spanish contemporary piano repertoire –from the late 20th and early 21st centuries– inspired by his life and his legacy. For this project, four of the most representative and internationally renowned contemporary Spanish composers have written works for Marta Espinós. The composers are Tomás Marco (Spain National Music Award, 1969 and 2002), Benet Casablancas (Spain National Music Award, 2013), Carlos Cruz de Castro and Mercedes Zavala. Also included are preexisting works related to Cervantes’ world by composers such as Manuel Angulo and José Zárate. Besides promoting the contemporary sound creation for the piano, this project includes works that portray Cervantes’ role as an author, describe his character, illustrate the landscapes that were the stage for his works and even refer to specific fragments of his literary output. Through the generational, aesthetic and conceptual diversity of the composers included, this project also emphasizes the work of the writer from Alcalá de Henares, not only as a multidisciplinary reference that transcends the literary field to enter the musical universe, but as a metaphor that reinvents itself through the centuries to become part of the collective and universal symbolic imagery. The premiere of the commissions was held at the National Library of Spain on April 22, 2016, on the day that marked the 400th anniversary of the death of Cervantes. View pictures of… The premiere at the National Library of Spain
IV Centennial of the death of Miguel de Cervantes
SOROLLA: A MUSICAL IMAGERY
Marta Espinós, piano and commentary
SOROLLA: A Musical Imagery features a selection of the best Spanish piano music illustrating the spirit and essence of the artist’s universe with an audiovisual, cross-disciplinary parallelism. This recital provides a comprehensive aesthetic experience by revealing analogies between the Sorollian Luminism and Impressionism and Nationalism in music. The musical program comprises a selection of piano works directly connected to the main topics of his works: portraits, children’s scenes, beach and port vignettes and his passion for Andalusia.
It encompasses all the great Spanish composers contemporary to Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923) and the subsequent generation: Albéniz, Granados, Falla, Turina, Esplá, Mompou and Rodrigo —in all, a great opportunity to celebrate the universality of Spanish art.
Sorolla: A Musical Imagery is a musical curatorship commissioned by the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation for the closing of the exhibition Sorolla and America, held at the Meadows Museum (Dallas) and at The San Diego Museum of Art.
View pictures of this recital at the Meadows Museum (Dallas)
View pictures of this recital at the The San Diego Museum of Art
THE THIRTY FACES OF THE POLYHEDRON Marta Espinós, piano and commentary “I have had few students like Marta Espinós. Her Goldberg Variations by Bach leave a unique imprint, as a model of knowledge and love for a score. Marta is very much a creature of the stage.” Joaquín Achúcarro, concert pianist The recital The Thirty Faces of the Polyhedron is a unique opportunity to get immersed in the Goldberg Variations BWV 988 by J. S. Bach, one of the Western music landmarks of all time. Its structural complexity and technical difficulty make it a rara avis of the concert halls, the chances of listening to it live being very scarce. In this lecture recital, pianist Marta Espinós performs this monumental piece after explaining some of the secrets hidden in this cathedral of the Baroque repertoire.
Goldberg Variations BWV 988, by J. S. Bach
COPY & PASTE_PIANO: QUOTATION, PASTICHE AND PARODY IN MUSIC Marta Espinós, piano and commentary “The COPY & PASTE_PIANO recital by pianist Marta Espinós was a true gift and a different way to understand and enjoy music. Meticulously prepared, passionately executed, explained with humor, elegance and accuracy, performed in an atmosphere of personal involvement with the listener, albeit never simplistic… A real feast on stage”. María Bolaños, Director of the National Museum of Sculpture What is original and what is a copy in music? What analogies can be drawn between music and fine arts? In this lecture recital pianist Marta Espinós explores how composers put into practice the concepts of repetition, quotation, pastiche À la manière de…, imitation and parody in the context of a musical work. COPY & PASTE_PIANO is an exclusive piano lecture-recital, a musical curatorship by LO OTRO commissioned by the National Museum of Sculpture (Spain) in 2013, on occasion of the II International Symposium for Museums and Sculpture Collections: “Copy and Invention: Models, Replicas, Series and Quotations in European Sculpture”.
DO, RE, MI, FA… GOAL!_ A PIANOLYMPIC RECITAL Marta Espinós, piano and commentary Is it possible to describe a ping-pong match musically? And the atmosphere of a soccer stadium? Can a music score narrate a tennis machtball? And a bike ride? In this lecture recital, pianist Marta Espinós reveals how composers get inspired by these and other sports such as baseball, horse racing, golf, sailing, etc. A total sports repertoire tracing many of the music styles of the 20th Century: from ragtime to the most contemporary idiom. DO, RE, MI, FA… GOAL! is an exclusive piano lecture-recital, a commissioned musical curatorship by LO OTRO for European Music Day 2013 of Madrid’s City Council and Sports Night organized by Madrid 2020, the Olympic Bid official platform.
MUSIC ON TRUCE: INTERWAR SPANISH PIANO MUSIC Marta Espinós, piano and commentary A pianistic journey through the different musical streams of the interwar period: a time in which the search for roots and the avant-gardist taste converged on a moment particularly fertile for Spanish pianism. In this lecture recital, pianist Marta Espinós explores the aesthetics coexisting at that time, such as Nationalism inspired by folklore, the heritage of French Impressionism and even more remote influences like jazz. Music on Truce: Interwar Spanish Piano Music is a musical curatorship by LO OTRO commissioned by the National Museum of Sculpture (Spain) in 2013, on occasion of its 80th anniversary as a national museum.
