Culture in 88 Strings
Daniel del Pino performed at the rather small venue of "Farley's House of Pianos" for a small and enthusiastic crowd. His program started with three pieces from Engique Granados' "Spanish Dances", another three from Isaac Albéniz's "Suite Española", three dances from Manuel Herrarte, "Ritual Fire Dance" by Manuel de Falla before the intermission. Aside from the Herrarte pieces, the works had all been transcribed for guitar, which is how I was most familiar with them. However, as much as I love the transcriptions, especially in the magical hands of Andrés Segovia, these are really piano pieces, as Mr. del Pino made abundantly clear. Hindsight lets me state that I would have payed full price for the performance of Albéniz's "Asturias" all by itself. As for the Herrarte, that was entirely new to me. He was a Guatemalan composer, 1924-1974. The three dances were an interesting introduction to his work. They had a child-like innocence to them and didn't overuse that favorite hammer of many 20th century composers, the dissonance. But, they were just three works. Who knows what other his other works came out like?
After intermission, he played three parts of the "Le Baiser de l'Enfant Jésus" by Oliver Messiaen, four parts from "Misteria" by Henry Mollicone (a living composer, 1946- ), and finally, the "Totentanz" of Franz Liszt. "Le Baiser" ... was a dissonant piece with a spiky melodic profile. I endured it. I found "Misteria", although still overly reliant upon that part of the musical lexicon, to be more approachable. Although the melodies were not lyric, they were less jarring to me and I thought them more listenable. I found myself thinking they sounded stylistically Baroque with some harmonies that made me think they were from the jazz toolbox. It might be worth looking up more of this man's opus. Mild aside, Mr. del Pino told an amusing story of a confusion between this composer and Ennio Morricone by someone that had trouble with their "r" and "l" pronunciations. The "Totentanz" was the "Totentanz" - enthusiastically played and presenting all of the joys of Mr. Liszt. After his curtain calls, Mr. del Pino graced us with an encore by Federico Mompou, although I didn't catch which piece it was that was played. Sadly, I can't recall the piece - my musical memory was rather saturated by that point.
Assessment of the concert: even with the pieces I didn't care for, it was a great evening, well spent listening to the playing of Mr. del Pino. Even the densest of passages ("Totentanz", for example) didn't faze his playing. And something as light and delicate as the Herrarte came off as playful as a kitten on the keys. If he shows up in your neighborhood, he's easily worth the price of a ticket and more than worth the time of the concert.
After intermission, he played three parts of the "Le Baiser de l'Enfant Jésus" by Oliver Messiaen, four parts from "Misteria" by Henry Mollicone (a living composer, 1946- ), and finally, the "Totentanz" of Franz Liszt. "Le Baiser" ... was a dissonant piece with a spiky melodic profile. I endured it. I found "Misteria", although still overly reliant upon that part of the musical lexicon, to be more approachable. Although the melodies were not lyric, they were less jarring to me and I thought them more listenable. I found myself thinking they sounded stylistically Baroque with some harmonies that made me think they were from the jazz toolbox. It might be worth looking up more of this man's opus. Mild aside, Mr. del Pino told an amusing story of a confusion between this composer and Ennio Morricone by someone that had trouble with their "r" and "l" pronunciations. The "Totentanz" was the "Totentanz" - enthusiastically played and presenting all of the joys of Mr. Liszt. After his curtain calls, Mr. del Pino graced us with an encore by Federico Mompou, although I didn't catch which piece it was that was played. Sadly, I can't recall the piece - my musical memory was rather saturated by that point.
Assessment of the concert: even with the pieces I didn't care for, it was a great evening, well spent listening to the playing of Mr. del Pino. Even the densest of passages ("Totentanz", for example) didn't faze his playing. And something as light and delicate as the Herrarte came off as playful as a kitten on the keys. If he shows up in your neighborhood, he's easily worth the price of a ticket and more than worth the time of the concert.