There are times when we reflect on those we have loved and lost, when we contemplate questions of life, beauty, and mortality. In Latin America, these somber reflections are balanced by joyful celebration of the gifts left to us by the departed in a holiday that dates back to the Aztecs. Our Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) concert finds that balance as well, combining the mournful and the exuberant in ways that are equally reverent.
Our annual celebration of this important holiday highlights the works of Mexican and other Latin American composers not often heard on Chicago stages, plus the music’s flamenco underpinnings as explored by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. Leading the orchestra will be Uruguayan-born conductor Gisele Ben-Dor, hailed by the L.A. Times as “a star on the rise” and a “charismatic performer” by the Boston Globe. Maestro Ben-Dor is one of the world’s leading proponents of Latin American composers and their music.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Raul Jaurena, originally scheduled to perform, will not be appearing due to the storm that hit the northeast. Maestro Ben-Dor has maintained the spirit of the concert by adding Alberto Ginastera’s Estancia, a lively piece inspired by life on the Argentinian pampas, and Astor Piazzolla’s expressive Oblivion.
Thursday November 1 at 7:30PM
Harris Theater, Chicago – buy tickets
Friday November 2 at 8:00PM
Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville – buy tickets
Manuel de Falla: La Vida Breve (The Short Life)
Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)
Silvestre Revueltas arr. Gisele Ben-Dor: La Noche de los Mayas
José Pablo Moncayo: Sinfonieta
Blas Galindo: Poema de Neruda
Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo, Ritual Fire Dance
Astor Piazzolla: Oblivion
Arturo Márquez: Danzon No. 4
Alberto Ginastera: Estancia
Gisele Ben-Dor, conductor
Deborah Stevenson, oboe
[sws_button_icon_ui label="Program Notes" href="http://www.chicagosinfonietta.org/wp-content/uploads/Chicago-Sinfonietta-Dia-de-los-Muertos12.pdf" ui_theme="ui-smoothness" icon="ui-icon-note" target="_blank"] [/sws_button_icon_ui]
[sws_button_icon_ui label="Digital Guide" href="http://www.chicagosinfonietta.org/digital-guide-dia-de-los-muertos/" ui_theme="ui-smoothness" icon="ui-icon-video" target="_blank"] [/sws_button_icon_ui]
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Gisele Ben-Dor
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Raul Jaurena
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Co-presented by United Neighborhood Organization (UNO)
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