Encounters with Classical Music in Leganés

Encounters with Classical Music in Leganés

The UC3M Leganes Auditorium is offering programming that features more than a dozen concerts and shows geared to all audiences.
This music series, entitled “Encuentros en Leganés con la música clásica”, (Encounters in Leganés with Classical Music) opened paying homage to Antonio Soler, one of the most important composers from the 18th century, (after whom the UC3M Auditorium is named).  Nearly 300 people attended the first concert of his “Sonatas”, performed by the accomplished pianist, Rosa Torres Pardo. A second concert is on tap for November in which Torres Pardo, together with the renowned Breton String Quartet will interpret Soler’s “Quintetos”.  “There is very little literature about his life and his work, but among the writings that have not been lost, a treatise that Soler wrote about modulation is noteworthy,” she said. “He defended the creator, who must innovate and freely contribute his vision of music. And he created a way to modulate that emphasized creating beauty, but above all creating pleasure for the listener,” she added.

Sunday matinees

Expanding and disseminating the pleasure of listening to great music is the aim of some of these concerts that are scheduled for Sunday morning, geared toward boosting attendance by a wide-ranging public, including families. The first of these matinee performances was “L’Innovazione del Barroco”, under the direction of  Pablo Suarez and performed by the distinguished “Ensemble Praeteritum” (see image).

In November, the morning performance will feature the Lebanese violinist Ara Malikian with his show “Mis primeras cuatro estaciones” (My First Four Seasons). This light-hearted homage to Vivaldi tries to help children appreciate the music experience in a fun and eloquent way, explaining and dramatizing the sonnets that the composer himself wrote for these concerts.

In January, featured will be the music and puppet show “El sastrecillo valiente”, with the company Etcétera, while February offers “Ma, me, mi, Mozart”, with the L’Auditori de Barcelona.  Finally, March will feature “The Funamviolistas”, a vibrant, ingenious and minimalist work that combines beauty and originality with a striking range of artistic disciplines: a musical stroll that freshly unites works of such distinct composers as Georges Bizet, Edvard Grieg, Jules Massenet, Astor Piazzolla,  Rita Pavone and Antonio Vivaldi.
 
Diverse and eclectic programming

The Encounters in Leganes with Classical Music series also includes work from the Teatro de la Zarzuela, with which the University collaborates in its educational program aimed at disseminating opera. In February, “Isabel”, will be performed, an operetta in which a lonely child, in her dreamlike world, shares games and her hopes and illusions with other characters. The series concludes in April with “La cantada vida y muerte del General Malbrú”, a popular song that makes fun of the antics of the English military officer, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, in his battles against the French and Spanish allied Armies during the War of Spanish Succession.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will be performed by the UC3M Orchestra and Choir, which returns to the Auditorium on December 21st for the Christmas Concert.  On a more theatrical scale, on tap for January will be the “Stradivarias” concert, a combination of music and humor, performed by four colorful characters with a violin, a viola, cello and double bass.

In January and March, the public will be able to enjoy the Zarabanda group, directed by the accomplished flautist Álvaro Marías. This ensemble’s repertoire covers music from the Renaissance and classical antiquity although it focuses fundamentally on the Baroque period. First, the show “Perlas Barrocas”, with Zarabanda as a trio, will be brought to the auditorium. Afterwards, in March, “The Six Concertos for Flute Op. 10 de Vivaldi”, will be performed with Zarabanda in its larger version: nine musicians: flute, oboe, bassoon, viola, cell, double bass, harpsichord and violins.

The ideal way to enjoy the musical program is to buy a reduced price pass good for five of the nine concerts held at the UC3M Auditorium.  For further information, visit the UC3M “Aula de las Artes” webpage.

Further information: www. uc3m.es/auladelasartes.es