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Miss Maximilien's playing was personal and sensitive, but it just missed the kind of projective power looked for in a putrlic„performance. The outlines of a phrase would be slightly understated, or a rhythm might not he accented strongly enough. A bolder statement of her interpretive ideas would have made the recital even more enjoyable than it was.
Guillermo Figueroa Violin Recital Lynn Philharmonia Music Director and violin professor, and renowned pianist Ivonne Figueroa perform masterworks by Schubert, Prokofiev, Ravel, Glazunov and Falla. The brother-sister duo are members of the fourth generation of Puerto Rico's most distinguished musical family.
The pianist offered the premiere of Nel DaCosta.'s “Extempore Blue,” a fine distillation of blues style into a contemporary compositional style.
RAYMOND ERICSON
Marian Thompson Sings Wolf Recital
It takes a fair amount of personal confidence to schedule an all Hugo Wolf recital, and great interpretive assurance to bring it off. Marian Thompson displayed both qualities at Town Hall on Wednesday night with a program neatly divided into groups: four songs to Goethe texts, five of the Morike Lieder, seven pieces from the “Italienisches Liederbuch,” and so on.
The soprano has a cultivated voice, sometimes given to edginess, not really varied enough in timbre to explore all the nuances of the 25 Wolf songs on her list. Miss Thompson husbands her resources intelligently, though, singing always with tasteful musicianship and careful projection of the poetic texts. Her performances thus make up in dramatic conviction what they may lack in sheer beauty of sound.
Miss Thompson, for instance, had the ardor and nearly operatic power to convey the passion of “Kennst du das Land,” the restraint to underscore the gentle buoyancy of “Morgentau” and the serenity, if not the infinite tenderness needed for “In dem Schatten meiner Locken.” A special delight was “Epiphanies,” with its witty, marcjilike delineations of the Three Kings.
Donald Hassard was Miss Thompson's sensitive, fluent partner at the piano.
ROBERT SHERMAN
Julio Rosario Sings In Varying Moods
Julio Rosario is a man of many parts—both in summer stock and at the Light Opera of Manhattan, where he has been featured In Gilbert and Sullivan productions for more than two years now —and Monday night, the baritone displayed yet another aspect of his talent with a short, attractively balanced concert program at Carnegie Recital Hall.
Mr. Rosarlo's stage manner was relaxed; he confidently established a variety of dramatic moods, and when he chose songs with which he seemed entirely comfortable, his forthright performances rang true. Mostly these were the pieces in Spanish and English, including folk‐song arrangements by Montsalvatge and Obradors, Jean Berger's “Four Sonnets by Luis de Camlens” and a charming set of “Blue Mountain Ballads” (to texts of Tennessee Williams) by Paul Bowles.
In the other repertory, Mr. Rosario's limitations as a concert artist were more evident. His voice is dark and sturdy, but a wide vibrato in the lower register tended to diffuse the tone, giving a somewhat muddy quality to Marcello's “H mio bel foco” and a pair of Handel arias. His singing also has only modest shadings of color, without the tonal and dynamic nuances to capture the subleties of five •exquisite songs by Gabriel Faure.
The capable pianist was George Malloy.
ROBERT SHERMAN
Guillermo Figueroa In a Violin Debut
The “Concert Artists of Puerto Rico” series at Carnegie Recital Hall ended its season Thursday night with a flourish—and a beguiling one at that when Guillermo Figueroa Jr. trouped in with family and friends to introduce himself and his violin playing to New York.
Young Mr. Figueroa is just finishing work at the Juilliard School for a bachelor's degree, which he will receive in June, but his violin skills and musicianship are well past the student stage, and his flair ‐ for performance may have been with him always.
He began with nothing less than a Mozart concerto (No. 1 in B flat, K. 207), which he performed with an orchestra of young colleagues from, Juilliard. He doubled as soloist and conductor, and the result was delightful. The playing was expert, and the ease and effectiveness with which the ensemble and Mr. Figueroa worked together made one wonder why established symphony orchestras have to make such big deals out of their performances of Mozart concertos.
The Figueroa family entered into the concert at the end with performances of twoPuerto Rican dances, “Carmen” and “Duva,” composed by Jesus Figueroa, Mr. Guillermo's grandfather. In these performances, the violinist was joined by his brother‐inlaw, Yosef Yankelev, also a violinist, ‘ and his sister; Yvonne Figueroa, a pianist…
The pieces were uncomplicated and lively and served as a prelude for. Sarasate's “Navarra,” a Spanish dance for two violins and piano. It is a marvelous piece, filled with all sorts of tunes and colors, and the three musicians played it to a turn.
The program also included Ysaye's Sonata in G minor for Unaccompanied Violin, which Mr. Figueroa did in a masterly manner from both technical and interpretive standpoints, and Bartok's Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano. The Bart6k came off well in terms of notes, but this listener had the feeling that it was not Mr. Figueroa's musical cup of tea. The pianist for this work was Yoko Nozaki.
ALLEN HUGHES
'Father of the Modern Danzas' | |
Background information | |
---|---|
Born | October 31, 1906 Aguadilla, Puerto Rico |
Died | September 4, 2004 Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico |
Genres | Danza |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | piano |
Narciso Figueroa (October 31, 1906 – September 4, 2004) is considered to be the 'Father of the Modern Danzas'.
Early years[edit]
Figueroa was the second of eight siblings born to Jesus Figueroa and Carmen Sanabria in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Both his parents performed in concerts and were also music instructors. Raised in a musically inclined family, it was to no surprise that eventually Figueroa and his brothers and sisters were to become the foundation of one of Puerto Rico's greatest musical dynasties. They received their first music lessons from their parents. By the time Figueroa was 10 years old, he played the piano and his brother José played the violin in front of live audiences, performing the sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven.[1]
Figueroa and his siblings went to Spain to study music in the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid. He studied music and harmony and when he graduated he won two awards, 'Primer Premio en Piano'(First Prize in Piano) and 'Música de Cámara'(Chamber Music). The director of the Conservatory invited Figueroa and his brother Jaime (Kachiro) on a musical tour throughout Spain, Portugal and Africa. Needless to say, the brothers took advantage of this opportunity. Figueroa went to Paris after the tour and enrolled in the 'Ecole Normale de Musique' (Normal School of Music) under the tutorship of Alfred Cortat.[1]
Musical career[edit]
Figueroa returned to Puerto Rico in 1940 after entertaining audiences all over Europe. In the island he formed the Brothers Figueroa Quintet. Narciso played the piano, Jose played first violin, Jaime played second violin, Guillermo the viola and Rafael the cello. His sisters, Leonor, Carmelina and Angelina would sometimes participate. During this time, Figueroa was also named professor and director of the piano department of the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, a position which he held for many years.[1]
In 1959, he published 'Canciones de Puerto Rico' (Songs of Puerto Rico), which contained some his compositions based on the folklore of Puerto Rico. Figueroa is credited with modernizing the Puerto Rican danzas and is therefore known as the 'Father of the Modern Danzas'.[2]
Danzas[edit]
You may listen to Narciso Figueroa play Olimpio Otero Vergés 'La Cuñadita' on YouTube | |
and to Luciano Quiñones piano interpretation of Figueroa's 'Trigueña'here |
He composed the following danzas:
- Añoranzas - (What I Miss)
- Danza negra para piano y voz - (Black danza for piano and voice)
- Me voy pa' Niu Yol - (I'm going to Nue YorK)
- Recuerdos - (Memories)
- Illusion
He also composed the following Christmas themes:
- Aguinaldo Jíbaro
- Camino de Belen
- El Arbol de Navidad
- El pobre zapatero
- Nochebuena
- Soy un pobre Jíbaro
Later years[edit]
On April 27, 1997, Figueroa was inducted into the Puerto Rican Danza Composers Hall of Fame, located in the town of San German, Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican Institute of Culture dedicated the 1997 week of the danza to Figueroa.[1] Narciso Figueroa died in his home in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico on September 4, 2004 at the age of 98.[2]
Legacy[edit]
The offspring of the Fiqueroa family have continued the family musical tradition. Guillermo Figueroa Jr., Narciso Figueroa Jr. and Rafael Figueroa Jr. belong to the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and they are the first chairs of the Metropolitan Opera House. Guillermo Jr., who is also the conductor of the Puerto Rico Symphony, is the leader of the 'Figueroa Quartet', which is considered the official chamber quartet of Puerto Rico. The quartet includes Guillermo Jr. and Narciso Jr. on the violins, Rafael Jr. on the cello and as pianist Ivonne Figueroa.[2] The novelist Mayra Montero wrote a novel titled 'Vana Ilusión' based on the life and times of Narciso Figueroa.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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