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Noam Aviel invites you to dance

On May 12 and 13 at First Baptist Church of San Antonio, the San Antonio Philharmonic pairs South American and Spanish music with the majestic "Eroica" Symphony No. 3 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Conductor Noam Aviel stopped by Classical Connections to preview the program with TPR's Barry Brake.

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Barry Brake: Here to talk about it is the conductor of the whole thing, Noam Aviel. Noam, thank you so much for joining us on Classical Connections.

Noam Aviel: Thank you for having me.

Okay. Tell us everything we need to know about Friday and Saturday's performances.

Well, do you like to dance?

That's the question, huh?

Noam Aviel Because the first half, you can say that there's a strong theme of dance. And not just any dance. Dance from Venezuela, from Argentina, and from Spain. We open with Plaza's "Fuga Criolla," which is a special integration between Venezuelan melody and rhythm together with the fugue, the serious fuga of western music, which is totally exciting. It sounds very fresh and new. And then we're going to continue with the Piazzolla Double Concerto for Guitar and Bandoneon. But instead of a bandoneon, we will have a cellist, a wonderful cellist, Boris Adrianov. And our guitarist is, of course, Dimitri Illarionov. And I understand they were here this week with you, right?

Yes, they were. They joined us on Classical Connections and their music is so wonderful. And then. And then, of course, they played in San Fernando.

Noam Aviel Yes. And that was lovely. I heard that myself. So we will be doing together with them the Piazzolla Double Concerto, which is, oh, this wonderful, you know, the tango and the milonga and just that feel of this music that incorporates, you know, also some classical music elements and jazz elements. It's just a treat to hear.

Oh, those guys are great. And they put on a great show.

Noam Aviel After that, we go to the famous Rodrigo Guitar Concerto de Aranjuez with our soloist, Dmitri Illarionov. This concerto is one of the famous ones inspired by the gardens of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, where the Spanish royal family lived. Again, you will be able to hear in the first movement the traditional Spanish dance, the fandango and all kinds of guitar, flamenco techniques, the strumming and different scales. And then the second movement is super famous with the memorable and unforgettable English horn melody, this Andalusian melody I'm sure you will recognize.

Oh, yeah!

...And again, the third movement with the lively and light Spanish dance. So that's super fun.

Fun to play!

To conduct as well!

That would be a show unto itself, and then we still haven't even gotten to the Beethoven yet!

Exactly. That's why it's so great, you know?

Oh, man. The Beethoven Eroica, the symphony number three.

Yeah. I mean, this is a huge piece. It's also a very revolutionary piece. You know, at that time, Beethoven, everyone thought he was going crazy. Well, maybe he was! He was losing his hearing. But, you know, a symphony that changed and affected all other symphonies of the 19th century was suddenly 50 minutes long. It was a life story being told. It required lots of virtuosity from the musicians... demanding and complex, but also very powerful. You can say that in the symphony you hear subjects of struggle, of the will to live, and also, of course, the second movement with a funeral march. So [it] talks about death as well.

Well, it's all happening this weekend, 7:30 Friday and Saturday, the 12th and the 13th over at First Baptist Church, the San Antonio Philharmonic. All the information is available at SAPhil.org. Noam Aviel, thank you so much for joining us today on Classical Connections.

Thank you.

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Barry Brake is a composer, jazz and classical pianist who has been a part of San Antonio's music scene for decades. You can find his musings and musical exploits online here: http://barrybrake.com/