CONCIERTO ELEGÍACO LEO BROUWER (1939)
(CONCIERTO PARA GUITARRA Y
ORQUESTA NO. 3)
1.- TRANQUILLO (10:09)
2.- INTERLUDE* (4:23)
3.- FINALE: TOCCATA (10:07)
CONCIERTO NO. 1 PARA GUITARRA Y ORQUESTA LUIS ABRAHAM DELGADILLO (1887-1961)
4.- ALLEGRO NON TROPPO (6:56)
5.- ANDANTE (3:23)
6.- ALLEGRO GIUSTO (4:39)
Tiempo total / Total time: 39:42
LEO BROUWER: DIRECTOR
FERNANDO MARIÑA: GUITARRA
ORQUESTA CR
*Grabado en vivo (concierto) el 27 de Octubre de 2019 / Recorded live (concert) on October 27th, 2019.
**Primera Grabación Mundial / World Premier Recording
Productores / Producers: Isabelle Hernández, Fernando Mariña y / and Henry Calvo Ureña
Producción Musical / Music Producers: Fernando Mariña y / and Carlos "Pipo" Chaves
Edición, Mezcla y Masterización / Edition, Mix and Master: Estudios MUSITICA, Costa Rica.
Grabado en / Recorded at: Teatro Eugene O´ Neill, San José de Costa Rica 27, 28, y / and 29 Oct. 2019
Ingeniero de Grabación / Recording Engineer: Carlos "Pipo" Chaves
Sesiones de Grabación Producidas por / Recording Sessions Produced by: Leo Brouwer, Carlos "Pipo" Chaves, Ariel Madrigal, Fernando Mariña y / and Ricardo Vargas
Producción Ejecutiva / Executive Producers: Colectivo Guitarra Itinerante, Dr. Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez López, Producciones Papalote y / and Modesto López
Asistente de Producción en México / Production Assistant in Mexico: Raquel Pérez de Mariña
Fotografía / Photograph: Jesús Cornejo
Diseño Gráfico / Graphic Design: Petrushka Sainz
Revisión de textos / Text revision: Aurora Flores Oléa y / and Raquel Pérez de Mariña
PERSONAL / PERSONNEL ORQUESTA CR:
Flauta / Flute: Loriana García
Oboe: José Ángel Abrego
Clarinetes / Clarinet: Fabiola Porras
Roberto Henry
Fagot / Bassoon: Manuel Carpio
Diego Cruz
Corno / Horn: William Céspedes
Gabriel Thames
Trompeta / Trumpet: José Manuel Loria
Pablo Amador
Percusión / Percussion: Sabah Halabi
José Rafael Jara
Violín I: Johan Chapellin (Concertino)
Abigail Picado
Kevin Enríquez
Azeneth Loáisiga
Violín II: Grace Marín (Principal)
Irene Pacheco
Leonardo Perucchi
Pamela Alvarado
Viola: Verónica Cruz (Principal)
Ángel Pérez
Rode Loaiza
Violoncello: Olman Ramírez (Principal)
Tiago Máximo
Tatiana Ravazzolli
Contrabajo / Double bass: Juan Pablo Mora
Director Titular de la / Chief Conductor of Orquesta CR: Ricardo Vargas
Productores Orquesta CR / Orquesta CR Producers:
Henry Calvo Ureña y / and Alice Barberena
Asistente / Assistant: Marybehy Navarro
Prensa / Press: Patricia Zamora
After almost seventy years of musical life, this is possibly my last contribution to the discography as a conductor together with the Mexican guitarist Fernando Mariña. What repertoire to choose for this album? Two concertos for guitar and orchestra. One of them was one of the first I performed in my teens. In 1956 Jesús Ortega, guitarist and great friend, formed with me a binomial of curious "researchers" from the guitar world. We discovered, in a UNESCO publication, the Nicaraguan composer Luis A. Delgadillo and his concerto for our instrument. We both took on the task of copying the parts by hand after purchasing the general score directly from the composer. I made my debut with a symphony orchestra with this work, which was also a world premiere. The concert took place on a Sunday in January 1957, in Havana, as part of the Sunday performances of the CMQ Radio Orchestra conducted by Enrique González Mántici, that were recorded in studio 2 of that station with the attendance of an audience. About the work there is not much to say. Delgadillo was a traditional composer with a simple and direct tonal language. The work is permeated with popular twists reminiscent of children's tunes, especially in the final movement.
The other concerto included here is my Concerto Elegiaco composed in 1986. The neoclassical language work, not very sophisticated, aims to show something of the expressionist atmosphere, but through an evident sound transfer. The minor second intervals at the beginning, in the form of a dramatic appoggiatura, reappear in the last movement in a kind of harmonious growth in ascending progression. The dramatic atmosphere that surrounds this piece may have something to do with the spirit that can be seen in the wide, rich, and changing personality of maestro Julian Bream, who was, without a doubt, a very important personality for the historical evolution of the classical guitar of the 20th century. I had the privilege of being his friend and that he asked me to compose for him on several occasions. Without his interest and love for my music, neither my Sonata, "el Elegíaco", nor the Iberia Suite would exist. I will tell you only one anecdote and it is that he approached my music not because of the guitar, but thanks to my Concerto for violin and orchestra. Bream was not very fond of Latin American music, he only performed Villa-Lobos. A mutual friend, the old producer of the BBC in London, Gareth Walters, told me that one day Bream called him saying that he wanted to ask him a question: "I have heard a concerto for violin and orchestra by a certain Leo Brouwer, is this Leo Brouwer the same one who writes "little things" for the guitar? Gareth replied: Yes, and they are not "little things", he has great works, just as you like them. If you liked the concerto, why don't you ask him to do a work for you? For example, a concerto, and perform it together." From there my Concerto Elegiaco was born.
I am grateful for the effort and love deposited in this project, to all those who took part in it, especially Fernando Mariña. I am glad that this production has been made in our America with a youth orchestra and by a record label dedicated to our instrument.
Leo Brouwer, Valladolid, November 2nd, 2022.
CONCERTO ELEGIACO NO 3 FOR GUITAR AND ORCHESTRA, LEO BROUWER
Leo Brouwer is, along with composers such as Heitor Villalobos, Manuel M. Ponce, Agustín Barrios Mangoré, one of the vindicators of the Latin American guitar. From his works, a language with universal projection has been consolidated that combines particular forms of local and regional expression. Within his production, the Concerto Elegiaco (1986) stands out, dedicated to Julian Bream (1933-2020). This work, for guitar and orchestra, constitutes a bridge between Cuban musical expression and, by extension, Latin American, and an interpreter who expanded, like no other before him, the limits of the guitar repertoire. According to Brouwer, "el Elegíaco", in addition to the characteristics that give it its title, shows distinctive traits of Bream's personality, who as a performer always showed a very open attitude when showing his emotionality.
With this Concerto, Brouwer significantly enriched the guitar repertoire, which is why it has become one of the fundamental works performed with an orchestra. The concert stands out for its lyricism and for the expressive demand towards the performers, something that is evident in the version offered on this album. In this recording we find the conjunction between the vision of the performers and the position of the composer-director. The result of this collaboration exposes the concern to preserve the elegiac character, while at the same time being charged with a profoundly lyrical meaning. These characteristics demand an interpretation in which the expressive capacities, in this case those of Fernando Mariña, can evoke the original meaning with which the work was conceived.
CONCERTO NO 1 FOR GUITAR AND ORCHESTRA, LUIS ABRAHAM DELGADILLO
From the Nicaraguan composer and conductor, Luis Abraham Delgadillo Rivas (Managua, 1887-1961), his Concerto for guitar and orchestra (1954) is included. Delgadillo has been described as the "apostle of Indo-American music" for his interest in the culture of the pre-Columbian populations of the territories currently occupied by Mexico and Central America. However, beyond his inclination towards these forms of expression, he also demonstrated, in his work, a broad knowledge and handling of the most important and influential European musical forms and language of his time.
On this album, Fernando Mariña and Leo Brouwer offer a respectful interpretation of the work's formal conception, while playing with the expressive possibilities of the guitar and orchestral instrumentation. The deep knowledge of the performers about this work is evident in the recording, which, despite the values conferred on it by specialists, is rare in the repertoire of guitarists and orchestras. In the rescue and dissemination of this work by Delgadillo, the participation of Leo Brouwer has been very significant, who since his youth incorporated it into his repertoire and to which he contributed with a "cadenza"* that complements and enriches the structure of the concerto without distorting its original spirit. Fernando Mariña now joins this musical vindication effort, with a performance in which the interaction between the guitar and the orchestra is pondered.
Dr. Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez López Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo
*Luis Abraham Delgadillo did not write a cadenza for this concerto. So a very young Leo Brouwer (17 years old), took on the task of writing the cadenza of the work. When Luis Abraham Delgadillo heard it, he approved of it and has stayed with that cadenza ever since.
I WOULD LIKE TO DEEPLY THANK:
- Leo Brouwer for his music, teachings, generosity, trust, and friendship, since the years in which I was trained as a guitarist in Cuba. It has been a great privilege for me to re-connect with him, to play music together for the first time, and to have the opportunity of performing concerts and record under his baton.
- Isabelle Hernández for her genuine interest in my project, and for giving it the (unexpected) twist that allowed me to carry it out alongside Maestro Leo. THANK YOU infinitely for making this possible!!!
- Luis Delgadillo Tapia and Family for providing me with original copies of Maestro Delgadillo's work; for granting me permission to record and publish the work.
- Maestro Alfredo Antúnez, Director of Escuela Superior de Música del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura de Mexico, for his constant support.
- Escuela Superior de Música del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura de México for hosting the production of this CD as part of my sabbatical project.
- Antonio Marín Montero, exceptional luthier from Granada, who built the guitar I play on this CD.
- My Family (Raquel, Yaoska and Rogelio Ernesto); Guitar Craft / Guitar Circle Family; Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamérica (IHNCA); Carlos "Pipo" Chaves and Family; MSc. Lissette Ruiz Contreras; Oficina Leo Brouwer and Ediciones Espiral Eterna's team; Henry Calvo Ureña and Family; Armando Herrera; Maestro José Miramontes Zapata and Orquesta Sinfónica de San Luis Potosí.
Fernando Mariña, Mexico City, October 31st, 2022.