After several months of hiatus, Camerata del Sol is back — and will perform two concerts this weekend in Las Cruces and El Paso featuring music by Mendelssohn, Haydn, and El Paso composer Albert Yoshimoto.
The longest work on the program is the Octet by Felix Mendelssohn, a masterwork written when the composer was just sixteen years old. "There's a charm about this Octet that has somehow not yet been surpassed," Camerata del Sol's artistic director Daniel Vega-Albela said in this interview with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin. "It really makes you wonder how it is possible for someone that young to be such a master of orchestration of this specific group of strings."
The concerts will also include the String Quartet in G, Op. 77, No. 1 by Joseph Haydn, and a short work, Rondo No. 2, by Albert Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto studied violin with Vega-Albela at NMSU, where he also became interested in composing. The two have stayed in touch. "He's developing a very unique voice in his compositions, and I thought, what better than to support his work?," Vega-Albela said. Listen to the interview to learn more about all three composers, as well as Vega-Albela's recent injury that kept him from performing for a number of months.
The concerts are on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. at the Atkinson Recital Hall in Las Cruces, and on Sunday at 3:30 p.m at the Women's Club in El Paso. Note: Camerata del Sol had to cancel three other concerts scheduled for this month. Concerts in Truth or Consequences, Silver City, and Socorro have been cancelled.
Musical clips included in the interview:
1.) Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, by Felix Mendelssohn, excerpts from movements 1, 2, and 3, performed by the Academy Chamber Ensemble (Philips cd #420400);
2.) String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1, Adagio, by Joseph Haydn, performed by the Takacs String Quartet (London cd #430199).
