Spain’s foremost composer, Manuel de Falla, was born in Cadiz where the Andalusian Gypsies enchanted the youngster with their fiery flamenco dance music. After studying classical music in Madrid and Paris, he was drawn back to Andalusia and began incorporating the Gypsy styles in his compositions.
Manuel de Falla’s “El Corregidor y Molinera”
Where: Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday; pre-concert commentary (with film) by Angel Gil-Ordonez and Joseph Horowitz at 6:30 p.m.
Info: $25 to $45 adult, $10 student; 202-547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org
He first wrote “El Amor Brujo” as a chamber piece, then turned it into an orchestral suite before creating the ballet famous for “The Ritual Fire Dance.” His next ballet, “El corregidor y la molinera” (The Magistrate and the Miller’s Wife), underwent revision that resulted in his popular “El sombrero de tres picos” (The Three-Cornered Hat). Along the way, the first version became lost in the hoopla that accompanied the production of the revised piece boasting design and costumes by Pablo Picasso.
Now, thanks to the Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales (SECC), the Spanish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, the Embassy of Spain in Washington and other international sponsors, “El corregidor” is receiving its American premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on April 17 and its Washington premiere at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington on Friday.
Angel Gil-Ordonez, the former associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Spain, will conduct the Post-Classical Ensemble, which he founded in 2003 with artistic director Joseph Horowitz. For this event, they join forces with celebrated Spanish choreographer Ramon Oller, Spanish pianist Pedro Carbone and 13 dancers from Passatges Dansa of Barcelona and Peridance Ensemble of New York City.
“The ‘Falla and Flamenco’ project has been in my mind many years,” Gil-Ordonez said. “‘El corregidor’ was presented in Spain by actors as a ballet pantomime at the beginning of the 20th century. Falla’s second version, ‘The Three-Cornered Hat,’ became so popular that the earlier one was forgotten and never performed. Because it’s an important ballet that must not be lost, I got in touch with the most outstanding Spanish choreographer and obtained the complete score to be performed by a live orchestra.
“Falla was inspired to compose much of his music after traveling through the Andalusian villages and gathering songs that represented the Gypsy lives and souls. The Gypsies were established in many different countries where they developed unique styles that mixed with the local ones. Gypsy music in Hungary and Romania is completely different than it is in the south of Spain where flamenco defines what they sing and dance.”
Gil-Ordonez and Horowitz founded the Post-Classical Ensemble as an edgy and avant-garde orchestra that breaks out of classical tradition by incorporating folk song, dance, film and contemporary popular music. The musicians perform four of five times each season at such venues as the Library of Congress, the Music Center at Strathmore, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland and the Kennedy Center, where their 2005 debut featured a commissioned production of Falla’s puppet opera, “Master Peter’s Puppet Show.” They are heard frequently on NPR and WFMT Chicago and have released several DVDs produced by Naxos.
“We are happy and proud that this project is backed by groups who are helping us make known the importance of Spanish culture,” Gil-Ordonez said. “In this concert, we want to show how the contributions from the Gypsies to Spanish culture are represented in Falla’s music and to generate interest in his development as a composer.”
