At first glance this may seem like Mexico’s answer to
Gustavo Dudamel, with conductor Alondra de la Parra both young
and attractive. However, she was born in New York City in 1980
and moved to Mexico at age two. She started on piano and cello
and knew she wanted to be a conductor from age thirteen. She
went to England at fifteen to attend boarding school and study
music there, returning to Mexico to study composition. She moved
back to New York City at age nineteen to attend the Manhattan
School of Music.
De la Parra founded the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas
(POA) in 2004. Unlike the Simón Bolívar Youth
Orchestra of Venezuela, the musicians of the POA come from twenty-two
different countries; the majority of them are under the age
of 35. The orchestra tours Mexico frequently and has given concerts
in a number of U.S. cities. One thing the POA has in common
with the Venezuelan organization is its arts and education program
for underprivileged youth. Based on this recording, the POA
is one impressive group of musicians.
The occasion for this two-disc set was the bicentennial of Mexico’s
independence. As de la Parra writes in her note to the CD, she
researched Mexico’s musical heritage and selected works
from diverse periods of the country’s history. Her aim
was to select short works that would represent contrasting musical
styles. For the most part, the selections are not well known
to most listeners. However, she also included several staples
of the Mexican orchestral repertoire, such as, Revueltas’
Sensemayá and Moncayo’s Huapango,
the latter often described as Mexico’s second national
anthem.
As a program the selections work well and provide enough variety
to hold one’s attention. It was a good idea to represent
Chávez with something other than Sinfonía india,
though the movement El Trópico from Caballos
de Vapor (“Horse Power”) suite does not maintain
the same level of interest as Sinfonía india.
One of the composer’s other symphonies could have been
selected instead. As far as Revueltas is concerned, it might
have been better to choose a different work, too, since Sensemayá
seems to appear on almost every CD of Latin American music.
On the other hand, it may very well be the highlight of the
current program because it is so original and memorable. My
introduction to the work came via Leonard Bernstein’s
recording of Latin-American music in the early 1960s. To my
knowledge there has never been a more exciting rendition of
this piece, although this one comes closer than any of the others
I know, including Dudamel, Tilson Thomas, and especially Salonen
- the last named on an excellent all-Revueltas CD. Bernstein’s
tempo is slightly faster than the fastest of the others, but
it is the way he builds the work that is so exciting. It concerns
the savage ritual of killing a snake. It has been compared to
the Rite of Spring, but to my ears does not sound Stravinskyan,
except that it’s very rhythmic like the Stravinsky ballet.
The work on the CD that does remind me of Stravinsky (Firebird),
is Lavista’s Clepsydra of 1990. De la Parra’s
rendition of Sensemayá is powerful and has the
best audio of the five versions I compared. Next to hers, Salonen’s
sounds particularly tepid.
Of the other works, the most familiar, in addition to Moncayo’s
Huapango, are Rosas’ Sobre las olas (“Over
the Waves), Ponce’s Concierto del Sur, and Márquez’
Danzón 2. Huapango is always a delight,
especially as performed here. The Rosas piece is Mexico’s
answer to Johann Strauss, Jr. and one of those waltzes that
is so familiar you don’t remember where or when you first
heard it! Once heard, it’s hard to get it out of your
head. Márquez’s Danzón 2, the most
recent of these works to gain popularity, has a special Mexican
flavor with its folk rhythm and memorable melody. Featuring
a piano as part of the orchestral fabric it receives a stunning
performance here, though I still prefer, by a small margin,
Dudamel’s slightly freer rendition on his Fiesta
disc (DG).
Of the concerted works on the CD, Ponce’s Guitar Concerto
is the most substantial. Its composer’s most famous work
is Estrellita. The Concerto is light and pleasant and
makes a nice change from the more usual Rodrigo or Giuliani
works. It also is performed very well here. The other two works
with soloists did not leave much of an impression on me. The
largo movement from the Toussaint piano concerto sounds as if
it would make good background music in a nightclub. Only one
movement of the work is on the CD, so it’s difficult to
judge the piece as a whole. Campa’s Mélodie
pour violon et orchestre is romantic and rather clichéd,
as is Castro’s well-orchestrated Intermezzo de
Atzimba.
Four more “serious” works make up the remainder
of the disc. They all try to make an important statement and
some succeed better than others. The first of these, Huízar’s
Imágenes, is the longest and begins atmospherically
with winds predominant and much chirping by the flutes. This
leads to a march-like section with trombones taking over and
then strings, followed by bassoon chords leading to a slow section
with a beautiful English horn solo. Another lyrical theme is
introduced by the strings and then a much more rhythmic section,
at first loud and then quieter with woodwinds and strings -
a particularly Mexican folk-like episode. It meanders a bit
before the work concludes with a loud Mexican dance for the
full orchestra. While the work as a whole maintains enough interest,
it seems rather long and disjointed. In contrast, Ibarra’s
Sinfonía No. 2: Las antesalas del sueño
(“The Anterooms of Dreams”) is much more compact
in a single movement that is predominantly dark in color and
atmosphere. It begins with piano chords - heavy with foreboding
- in unison with strings, brass and percussion underpinning.
The piece becomes lighter but also remains very mysterious in
its string dominated texture with woodwind and percussion flourishes.
Later it is powerful and rhythmic with much lower brass and
heavy percussion. It ends somewhat suddenly. A powerful impression
is made, though more for its sound than its substance.
Of the last two works on the CD, Clepsydra by Lavistra
is the more interesting. The title refers to water clocks and
reminds me at times of early Stravinsky, but at others of Takemitsu.
It boasts its own brand of impressionism. The composer wrote
it as a commission from the San Antonio Symphony to commemorate
the 300th anniversary of the discovery of the San
Antonio River. It is generally slow and quiet in comparison
with most of the music on this disc and impressed me with its
substance. I would like to hear more from this composer. The
last work, composed as recently as 2003, also shows some promise
for its composer Enrico Chapela, born in 1974. The title of
the work ínguesu refers to an obscenity that is
yelled out by Mexican football fans. The occasion for the work’s
composition was a celebrated Mexico vs. Brazil soccer match
that took place in August 1999.The work is very colorful
with lots of percussion and brass. It even has the conductor
portray the referee with its use of a whistle. In some ways,
it reminds me of Revueltas, but also of Bernstein’s West
Side Story dances. It makes a strong impression on first
hearing, but I doubt it will have real staying power.
The CDs are accompanied by a substantial booklet in English
and Spanish containing an introduction by Alondra de la Parra,
photos of the conductor and orchestra, a complete list of the
orchestra personnel (with a noticeable paucity of Hispanic names!),
as well as the usual biographical information on the conductor,
soloists, and history of the orchestra. More detailed information
on each composer and the works represented would have added
value. Also, there are questionable dates listed for two of
the compositions. The Chávez work is listed as from 1954,
but from research I found that he composed the H.P. Suite
in 1926-27. The El Trópico movement
could be a later arrangement, but there is no mention made of
this in the booklet. Mario Lavista is quoted in the booklet
as having composed Clepsydra in 1991, but on the back
the date is given as 1990.
As I have indicated above, the performances are terrific as
is the recorded sound. This disc will not replace Dudamel’s
Fiesta
in my affection, nor should it, but it can join it as an excellent
example of the variety in Latin American music. As a further
sweetener, the two-disc set is being sold at a reduced price.
Leslie Wright
Daniel Andai (violin) (Campa); Pablo Sáinz
Villegas (guitar) (Ponce); Alex 
