John Walz, cello [] Pro Musica: San Miguel de Allende

We continue the season with our last event before the holiday break on Sunday 6 December with cellist John Walz, accompanied on the piano by Steven Vanhauwaert.  The program includes a Debussy cello sonata, Stravinsky’s stunning Suite Italienne, Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro and works by Chopin and Max Bruch.

Walz was last here four years ago with the Pacific Piano Trio when you loved his playing. He founded the trio 40 years ago and they have given more than 900 concerts on four continents.  He is a celebrated for his dazzling virtuosity and elegant musicianship. A student of the legendary French cellist, Pierre Fournier, he has appeared as soloist with more than 150 orchestras.  Walz is also the principal cellist with the Los Angeles Opera.

Belgian pianist Steven Vanhauwaert was with us last season accompanying cellist Mark Kosower.  He was hailed by the Los Angeles Times for his “impressive clarity, sense of structure and monster technique.”  He has appeared in solo recitals at the world’s leading venues, including Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

Click on this link to watch a 2 minute video of John talking about his return to San Miguel.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xhvqdb7io5rcu6x/San%20Miguel%20promo.mov?dl=0

The program includes Claude Debussy’s Cello Sonata in D Minor, originally called “Pierrot fâché avec la lune” (Pierrot angry with the moon).  That title  catches the flavor of this delicious Commedia dell’Arte work and its theme of Pierrot prancing around wildly in a blaze of rainbow colors.  This links into Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne, which we will also hear, an arrangement from his ballet Pulcinella, the latter also a figure from the Commedia dell’Arte.

In contrast to the impressionism of the Debussy, Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro is full on drama.  In his wife Clara’s words: “just the sort of piece that I like, brilliant, fresh and passionate”!  You will be thrilled by its impetuous rush to a heroic and fiery finale. We will also hear Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, the opening prayer for Yom Kippur, where the cello imitates the rhapsodic voice of the cantor chanting the liturgy in the synagogue. The program is completed  with Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise Brillante for cello and piano.

We continue our outdoor Food+Music concept for this event in the tranquil gardens of the Hotel Real de Minas, in their open air Zeferino Garden Restaurant, around a charming loggia.  Enjoy waiter served food and a choice of wines at socially distanced tables, each seating 1-4 people.  We start one hour earlier than our November event, with doors open at 1.15 pm.  After the first course John and Steven will play the first half of the program at 2 pm.  Following a 45 minute interval for the main course/dessert, they will perform the second half.  The menu comprises soup, fish with vegetables, and dessert.  We will finish by around 4.45 pm, when it will still be light.

The hotel’s full hygiene protocols will be in place, including: the use of hand sanitizer; temperature checking; shoe sanitizing; all staff wearing face masks etc.  Entry is via the hotel lobby, or their parking lot on Camino Viejo al Pantheon, also accessed from Ancha, where you can park for a fee, and directly access the gardens. See map in our brochure for a detailed plan.

With socially distanced seating numbers are limited, so book your places now by clicking on the link below, also please send us an email specifying if you want a table under the open sided loggia, or completely out in the open on the lawn. Tickets are $850 pesos per person, inclusive of food, wine and music.

http://www.promusicasma.org/tickets1

You can also watch the music program, including a bonus interview with John, on our HD video on demand from around 9 December via our web site.  The full program, including the music to be played, program notes and artists’ biographies, will be available in advance on our web site in a digital ‘flip page’ format; just like reading the printed program.

By joining us in person on the 6^th, or watching via the HD video on demand, you will be directly helping to keep classical music alive, not only in San Miguel, but in the wider world, by supporting our musicians and their families.  Escape from the turmoil of the planet for a few hours and enjoy the magical realm of classical music.  In the words of Albert Schweitzer:

“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”

SIncerely,Michael Pearl, President, Pro Musica