Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(by Wolfgang Becker)

Lima continues to celebrate Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Prolírica Association of Peru presided by renowned tenor Luis Alva has organized a great opera season to honor the 250th birthday of the musical genius.

According to Ivonne Garreaud, general manager of Prolírica, the program includes two skillful performances: a "Réquiem" concert and the opera "Don Giovanni". Canadian soprano Natalie Choquette will also give a special concert.
Season will begin on Friday, August 25,  and end on Saturday, September 16.
The Teatro Segura (Lima), the auditorium at "Colegio San Agustín" (Lima) and the Teatro Municipal in Arequipa have been chosen as venues.

The "Requiem" concert will kick off celebrations in Lima's Cathedral featuring Peru's National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Armando Sánchez Málaga, the National Choir directed by Andrés Santa Maria, and four distinguished Peruvian solists: soprano Jacqueline Terry, mezzo soprano Josefina Brivio, tenor Alvaro Lopez and baritone Humberto Zavalaga.


Thanks to the Canadian embassy, diva Natalie Choquette - who has acquired a more than enviable popularity in recent years - will offer a concert on September 15 together with the Prolírica orchestra conducted by Marco Titotto. In addition to a splendid voice, Choquette combines the art of opera with humor, laughter and emotion; virtues with which she has gained fame worldwide.

Don Giovanni will be put on stage on four dates at the Teatro Segura. National and international artists will perform and thanks to Luis Alva's long relation with Milan's "Scala", one of the world's most famous opera houses will lend all the costumes. The opera is widely regarded as one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed, and of the many operas based on the legend of Don Juan, Mozart's is thought to be beyond compare.

Contributing singers are two Bulgarians and two Argentines: bass Martin Tzonev and soprano Svetla Krasteva (Bulgaria), as well as tenor Juan Francisco Gatell and comedian Luis Gaeta (Argentina). Director in charge is Italian Marco Titotto, and, of course, Luis Alva.

Schedule:

REQUIEM K626: August 25, in the Cathedral of Lima.

DON GIOVANNI: September 7, 9, 14 and 16th at the Teatro Segura, Jr Huancavelica 265, Lima.

MOZART RECITAL: September 11 at the Teatro Municipal in Arequipa.

NATALIE CHOQUETTE: September 15 in the auditorium at "Colegio San Agustín., Av. Javier Prado Este 980,  San Isidro.

tags : Peru Lima Arequipa culture music classic Amadeus Mozart opera DonGiovanni Requiem entertainment concert

Add to del.icio.us |

1 Comments

# Wolfy says :
11 August, 2006 [ 04:10 ]

I am not a Mozart aficionado, but what can you do if your parents name you after this genius. And that is probably all we have in common, certainly not the genius musical mind. It took Mozart quite a while until he somewhat opened my ears.

I was 10 years old when the Beatles broke up and that didn't shake my world. 90 percent of my friends and aquaintances were in tears while I remember just being sad. I was listening more to the Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Doors. Their songs were much better suited to play catchy riffs on the air guitar in front of a mirror. Heading into my late teens and early twenties, I turned into a moderate rocker. What I mean by that is that I didn't like the Carpenters nor the Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden stuff, nor any classic music. I guess you called it mainstream rock at the time or so. I somehow never had a knack for these uber-stars. I wasn't a Michael Jackson fan either. I was and still am more of a headset guy rather than hitting a dance floor.

The headset must have been one of the reasons that got me into classical music in my late twenties, early thirties. Another reason was a gift from my brother. At the time I lived in Frankfurt, Germany, and he gave me ticket to a live concert with Anne-Sophie Mutter, playing Mozart in the catacombs of a nearby monestary (Kloster Eberbach, parts of the movie "The Name Of The Rose" were filmed there). The acustic was absolutly phantastic. I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes and felt how the music gave me goose bumps and made my hair stand straight up.

Since then, classic music had and has a strong influence on my life. I listen to Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Ravell, Chopin, Debussy, Wagner, and some others whenever I am all by myself, reading a book for example. One of my favorite tunes is the Adagio from Idyll Of Strings by Leos Janacek. But back to Wolfgang Amadeus.....

This year the sound of the master's music is being heard around the globe. Orchestra halls and opera houses worldwide had and have planned performances of his works. Piano students scheduled Mozart marathons and puppeteers give jubilee performances as hundreds of cities across five continents toasted the musical genius.

At his birthplace in Salzburg, Austria, residents say that "Mozart came with mother's milk". He wrote his first symphonies before turning 10 and his first significant opera at 12. He was instrumental in changing opera into the form many of us enjoy today.

The "Wunderkind" was prolific like few others, creating at least 626 musical works despite living to only age 35. Other greats like Beethoven and Wagner publicly recognized their debt to him.

But he had plenty of detractors in his day.

Some history books depict his tenure in Salzburg ending ingloriously in 1781 with a kick in the bottom from a servant of a patron, the city's imperious archbishop, after Mozart refused to follow orders on how to compose.

Still, the town where he was born on Jan. 27, 1756, is Mozart Central this year.

Always a trove for Mozart kitsch, Salzburg has outdone itself. Stores are stocked with Mozart beer and wine, Mozart baby bottles, Mozart milkshakes, Mozart knickers and Mozart jigsaw puzzles - along with the usual T-shirts, calendars and coffee mugs.

Happy Birthday, Wolfy Amadeus!!!!!!!!

---