Christine Lamprea remembers plucking the Brahms E Minor Sonata off the rack at Southern Music and taking it to her first lesson with Ken Freudigman, principal cellist with the San Antonio Symphony and a private cello instructor in town. She was just a freshman in high school.
“I didn't even know what the piece sounded like at the time,” she admits. Glancing over the music, the cello line looked simple enough; it was in more of an earlier Classical style, as opposed to Brahms’ later music. “But the interaction of the piano and the cello and the Brahms is very complex,” Lamprea continues, “and that's a whole other level of skill, just listening and learning how your part interacts with the piano. So in that way the Brahms is very challenging. I didn't know that when I brought it to Ken at all,” she says with a hearty laugh.
“I only discovered that years later!”
Lamprea will bring that same cello sonata to her program on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 with pianist Daniel Anastasio, in a homecoming recital that opens the Tuesday Musical Club’s annual Artist Series at Laurel Heights United Methodist Church.
She’s been described as a “firebrand” on her instrument, a characterization she seems to agree with. “I think that rhythm is probably one of the primary things that I consider first when I'm listening or being moved by [music], and then how the harmony interacts with that is very important. I think that rhythmic, fiery energy is definitely a strength of mine, and I definitely would credit that to listening to a lot of Latin music.”
Lamprea’s parents are Colombian, and she’ll be bringing some of that musical heritage to her recital as well. She transcribed two popular songs for cello, “Prende la Vela” and “Noches de Cartagena.” Of the latter, she says she was so taken by the song, she listened to it for an hour straight. And “Prende la Vela,” recorded by Totó la Momposina, is very rhythmic. You can get a video preview of it on her Facebook page.
The rest of the program includes Franz Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata, music by the Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, and “Five Pieces in the Folk Style” by Robert Schumann.
Lamprea frequently returns home—she’s performed with the Mid-Texas Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and subbed with the piano trio Intersection all within the past few years. But this recital is one that seems particularly suited to her talents. Her partner in the recital, pianist Daniel Anastasio, is another San Antonio-bred talent. Don’t miss it.
Concert details:
Tuesday, October 10
2:00 p.m.
Laurel Heights United Methodist Church
Tickets/info through Tuesday Musical Club
