Over to Spain this week for a concert by Orquesta de Cordoba, conducted by Manuel Hernandez-Silva and featuring Guillermo Pastrana, cello and Javier Riba, guitar, and recorded by Radio Nacional España on February 28, 2010.
Starting with Turina’s La Oración del torero, op. 34, followed by Garcia Aguilera’s Concert for Guitar and Orchestra with Javier Riba as guitar solo, and then Khachaturian’s Cello concerto with Guillermo Pastrana as soloist and ending with a performance of Kodaly’s Dances From Galanta. A nicely balanced concert with a good mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar.
A couple words about the soloists:
Via Guillermo Pastrana’s website:
Guillermo Pastrana was born in Granada in 1983, in a family that loves arts. From a very young age he showed a deep love for music and especially for the cello , an instrument with which he has won the first prize of numerous national and international competitions.
Exalted by critics, the public and the great professionals with whom he collaborates in his career, they all coincide in highlighting his technique , the quality of his sound , and the unique charisma he displays during his performances on stage. After his resounding success with the world premiere of the Concerto No. 1 for cello and orchestra by David del Puerto, as well as with the Concerto for cello and orchestra by Edouard Laló, performed alongside the ORTVE with Kazuki Yamada on the podium, and with the Symphony of Tenerife under the direction of Antoni Wit, Guillermo Pastrana has earned his place among the most important Spanish performers.
Guillermo Pastrana has obtained great hits as a soloist along with formations such as the World Orchestra, the RTVE Orchestra, the Medellín Philharmonic, the Chilean Symphony, the Sanremo Orchestra, the Cordoba Orchestra, the Castilla y León Symphony, the Orchestra Symphony of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, the Symphony of Galicia, the Philharmonic of Malaga, the Orchestra City of Granada or the Symphony of Navarra among others, under the direction of prestigious teachers such as Michal Nesterowicz, Josep Vicent, Kazuki Yamada, Manuel Hernández- Silva, Alejandro Posada, Aldo Ceccato, Antoni Wit, Carlos Cuesta, Salvador Mas, Michael Thomas or Damian Iorio.
Guillermo Pastrana’s interest in newly created music has earned him the prestigious Basel Award 2014 in the field of research and musical pedagogical contributionto the best pedagogical research work of the Musik Akademie of Basel (Switzerland) for his project “Seitenhiebe für Violoncello (Zeitgenössiche Musik für Anfänger)” (“Contemporary Music for young cellists”), and collaborating with contemporary composers such as Tomás Marco , David del Puerto (National Music Award), Jorge Muñiz, José Miguel Moreno Sabio, Raquel Rodríguez, Jesús Navarro, Josep Marí Guix Aguilar, of which he has premiered and dedicated his works. That is why Pastrana maintains a close collaboration with the newly created Spanish composers, who have corresponded to him, dedicating many of his works.
Via Javier Riba’s website:
Javier Riba, is a professor in the guitar chair of the “Rafael Orozco” Higher Conservatory of Music of Córdoba (Spain). Disciple of José Rodriguez, Manuel Abella, Marco Socías and Demetrio Ballesteros, has received advice from Leo Brouwer and Ricardo Gallén.
As a concert performer he has performed at the Grand Theater of Havana (Cuba), at the Jamai Palace in Fez (Morocco), at the National Auditorium of Madrid, Museum of Music of Barcelona or the Grand Theater of Córdoba (Spain), in recitals alone, chamber or with orchestra, under the direction of Leo Brouwer, Lorenzo Ramos, Manuel Hernández Silva or José Luis Temes.
Committed to the music of his time, he has made several premieres with an orchestra of works dedicated to him by composers Angelo Gilardino, David del Puerto and Juan de Dios García Aguilera.
So there you have it – all that’s left for you to do is hit the Play button, enjoy and go exploring.
