For the next several episodes of Momentos Musicales we will travel alongside musicians from Latin America as they cross the border into, for want of a better description, the English-speaking countries of the Americas. We will also sample some of the musicians of English-speaking America as they tour into the Spanish-speaking Americas. If you have listened to the last three episodes of Momentos Musicales, you have already enjoyed a similar venture as musicians from both English and Spanish-speaking countries came together to entertain, in English, Spanish and even Portuguese over the airwaves.
The Mexican composer and conductor Carlos Chávez was the most prominent of classically trained musicians from Latin America to establish a name for himself in the United States.
Starting in the late 1920s, Chávez was gaining widespread acclaim for both the percussive, modern style of his music, contrasting with his nationalist style such as from his “Sinfonia India,” which was in fact his Symphony no. 2. He famously conducted famously in New York City with the Stadium Symphony, who were the New York Philharmonic during their summer months. In 1958, he recorded his symphonies with the Stadium Symphony, but not in Lewisohn Stadium, but at the Manhattan Center in New York.
Previously, in 1938 Chávez stepped in for Arturo Toscanini to conduct the NBC Symphony Orchestra. I wish a recording existed of that meeting of one of Mexico's best with one of America's best.
Interestingly, Eduardo Mata, who had studied primarily composition with Chávez, then later conducting with Max Rudolf and Eric Leinsdorf, went on to record Chávez’s symphony cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1981, I played Chávez’s transcription of Dietrich Buxtehude's “Chaconne in e minor” in concert with the Mexico City Philharmonic led by Eduardo Mata. I came away deeply impressed with the “Chaconne” and still today I look forward to hearing it.
There will be plenty more instances of Latin American musicians finding a new audience in the U.S. and Canada in the days and weeks ahead.
Before we take our leave from this seventh episode of Momentos Musicales, let's turn the table and find Fritz Reiner traveling to Mexico in his own private coach, where he is welcomed by Carlos Chávez and subsequently prepares and conducts a concert with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the oldest continuous orchestra in all of Mexico. When I was playing in that orchestra from 1986 to 1988, there were still musicians in the orchestra who had been there the year Reiner conducted their orchestra. Again, I wish recordings existed but I suppose we might hope that the reverberations from those concerts are still floating somewhere in outer space.
Information is scant as to what was on the program Reiner conducted, but it does seem certain that Schumann's Piano Concerto was on the program. We'll slip in Van Cliburn, with Reiner and Chicago for now.
More music and stories from Pan America awaits us tomorrow at 2 p.m. on Classical KPAC 88.3 FM.
