España

A programme full of southern temperament, with music that celebrates the proud Spanish culture, under the baton of a Mexican conductor. Vámonos! Debussy needed just a few trips to grasp and express the essence of Spain in Ibéria. With great powers of imagination, he sketches a vibrant musical tableau with lively streets, sultry Andalusian nights and filled with exuberant dancing people.

Ravel felt the same sweltering atmosphere in the American jazz clubs, and even though he had Mozart in mind when writing his Piano Concerto in G, yet he could not resist the lure of jazz or the influences of Basque and Spanish folk music bred in his bones.

The tempo is further enhanced with glowing colours and passion: de Falla wrote his masterpiece El sombrero de tres picos (The three-cornered hat) for ‘Les Ballets Russes’, but it is his pure love for Spain that pulses through the veins of the music. The vitality, humour and warmth made this Spanish ballet an instant hit.

Flagey, Brussels Philharmonic