Basque maestro, Juanjo Mena, returned to lead the BBC Philharmonic last night (Friday) to open the 39th edition of the Canary Islands International Music Festival (FIMC) at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz.
He described the British orchestra, as being "of enormous precision and instrumental conjunction, with very defined and balanced sections, with a very beautiful sound and at the same time rich in colours and textures", and said he wanted to send a "message of joy" to La Palma after the eruption and support to the Ukrainian people who are suffering the consequences of war.
With the Korean violinist Clara-Jumi Kang as soloist, the orchestra performed the Dances of Don Quixote, by Roberto Gerhard; the Violin Concerto, op.15 by Benjamin Britten; Pavane for a deceased infant; La Valse; and Bolero by Maurice Ravel.
This second inaugural event, after the one on Thursday at the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with the same formation and program as last night, marks the start of the FIMC which in its 39th edition includes almost 60 musical performances throughout the eight islands of the Archipelago.
The avant-garde and innovative compositions that Erik Satie created more than 100 years ago are the guiding thread of Satierismos, the project that the Gran Canaria Big Band offers in the En Paralelo section of the festival. The show brings the music of the French composer closer to other formats and rhythms, such as samba, baiao, the Latin descarga, or flamenco. All this while respecting its essence and its ‘timbre fantasy’.
The festival sees performances today (Saturday) at the Guiniguada Theatre in Las Palmas, while tomorrow (Sunday) it can be heard in Santa Cruz, at Espacio La Granja. Both concerts begin at 8:00pm and the last few tickets are available on the festival's website and the venue’s websites for 10 euros, plus there is a reduced rate for music students and the unemployed.
The director of the Gran Canaria Big Band, Sebastián Gil, says that Erik Satie was "a ground-breaking composer in his time, and is a key figure in the history of music".
Erik Satie was "a very transgressive character" and a forerunner of minimalism and impressionism, in contrast to his predecessors. The arrangements for this concert have been made by Miguel Blanco, adapting them to the big band sound, above all, "following that vibe of Satie with the rich sound of drums ahead of grandeur and volume".
The Gran Canaria Big Band was created by a group of teachers from the de Conservatory of Music in Las Palmas and has been on stage for more than 25 years. It is currently considered to be one of the most important big bands in all of Spain. It stands out especially for its social significance, as it manages to attract a large audience thanks to its good work combining different repertoires and styles of music.
