The NMSU Philharmonic will perform two concerts this weekend featuring music ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Astor Piazzolla to two 21st century composers who are former students of cellist Jorge Espinoza and violinist Daniel Vega-Albela, both from NMSU’s string faculty who have also been co-leading the orchestra this year. The centerpiece of the concerts is the Piano Concerto No. 1 in C by Beethoven, which the orchestra will perform with piano professor Yoshiko Arahata.
The students will also play a short work by Piazzolla in a transcription written for them by Espinoza, who had the opportunity as a boy to hear Piazzolla in concert. He described sneaking into a tiny concert hall in Chile that was so full, he had to sit on stage.
“I was next to him performing, and seeing him perform and say a few words – an amazing musician. Everyone enjoyed talking to him and he was giving some comments about the pieces. But just listening and absorbing that kind of energy in that moment, it was amazing.”
Listen to the interview to learn about La Noche Inefable, by Espinoza’s former student Cristián Aarón Pereira and Rondo No. 2, by Vega-Albela’s former student Albert Yoshimoto, which the orchestra will also perform, as well as about the techniques that musicians must employ to play music from such different styles.
The concerts are Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and on Saturday, April 18 at 7:30 at the Atkinson Recital Hall.
Musical clips:
1.) The Marriage of Figaro: Overture, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis conducting (RCA 63707).
2.) Piano Concerto No. 1: I. Allegro con brio, by Ludwig van Beethoven, performed by Staatskapelle Dresdend, Hans Vonk conducting, pianist Christian Zacharias (EMI #63937).
3.) La Noche Inefable, by Cristián Aarón Pereira (private recording).