Spanish songs and Zarzuela
with soprano María Bayo
Acclaimed Spanish soprano María Bayo will be having a concert on June 25th, 7:30pm at the Hyundai Hall in Areté, Ateneo de Manila University. Bayo, who won the Spanish National Award for Music in 2009, will be accompanied on the piano by Maciej Pikulski, from France, and will offer the audience a rare opportunity to listen to songs by Spanish contemporary composers inspired by traditional music, as well as some zarzuela. The concert in Metro Manila, organized by the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, the Instituto Cervantes and Areté, puts the final touch of an Asian tour that has taken María Bayo to Beijing, Tokyo and Jakarta.
Acclaimed for the luminosity and clarity of her voice, for her technical virtuosity and her gifts for acting and expressiveness, for two decades María Bayo has been the most internationally renowned Spanish soprano. She is considered one of the best performers in the world for feminine roles by Rossini and Mozart and has sung at the Teatro Real in Madrid, La Scala in Milan, the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Bastille and Palais Garnier in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York amongst many others.
Chameleon-like and leaving no stone unturned with regard to music as well as acting, María Bayo has an extremely wide repertoire which spans from Händel and Cavalli to Puccini, Debussy, Poulenc and Stravinsky. Her interest in Spanish repertoire has also led her to record a large number of zarzuelas from all ages and revive many others that had been lost in obscurity, as well as operas and chamber music, collaborating with the most outstanding and respected conductors and directors of her generation. Her work to find the truth of a character and its psychological rough edges to then take it through her own voice to the stage or recording studio has earned her the highest acclaim in the world of music and culture.
Maciej Pikulski is a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist to leading singers, who has already performed in over 300 concert halls in five continents. The specialist music press has acclaimed Maciej Pikulski for his “poetic sensitivity” and “powerful technique”, praising him as a “magnificent musician” and “great pianist”. He holds a professorship with tenure at the Centro Superior de Música in San Sebastian, Spain.
The program of the concert will include so-called “cultured songs”, i.e. songs from folk music that have been arranged with new, rich harmonies in line with the style of different 20th century composers. The musical tradition that has inspired these compositions stems from Spain but has also made a round-trip to Latin America and thus, the works by Eduard Toldrá will bring us to the Mediterranean tradition whereas Xavier Montsalvatge’s will allow us to travel to the Antilles. The program also includes songs by Óscar Esplá, Jesús García Leoz, Antoni Parera Fons, Antón García Abril, Astor Piazzolla. Two zarzuela pieces will complete the concert: one by Cuban composer Gonzalo Roig and another by one of the best known zarzuela composers, Francisco Asenjo Barbieri.
The concert will take place at Areté, 7.30 pm on June 25th, 2019. Tickets (Balcony: Php350; Orchestra: Php500) can be obtained directly from Areté or on-line through www.ticket2me.net.
For further information please visit Instituto Cervantes’ website (http://manila.cervantes.es) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila).