An evening of color, brilliance and virtuosity from Teatro Real at Carnegie
Concerts by the Orchestra of Madrid’s Teatro Real are becoming regular events in New York. The orchestra’s appearance on Thursday evening at Carnegie Hall marked its third performance here since 2022.
As expected, wonderful colors, rhythms, and intense emotions abounded in “A Music Fantasy from Spain,” but conductor David Afkham also led them on equally rewarding musical adventures far away from the Iberian peninsula.
The concert opened with a journey across Spain via Joaquín Turina’s Danzas Fantásticas. Born in Seville, Turina spent several years in Paris, where he was encouraged by D’Indy, Debussy, and Ravel. Spanish fever did not peak among French composers with Bizet’s Carmen in 1875—it was still raging in the next century, as evidenced by Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso, which opened the second half of the concert.
One of the compositional techniques that Turina learned in France was cyclical form, where a theme or musical idea is repeated in different movements or sections of a piece to create unity and coherence. It was a form that early 20th-century Spanish composers embraced to the fullest, and a perfect vehicle to ramp up emotion, which Afkham seized at every opportunity. The artistry came in his and the orchestra’s ability to make each repetition so fresh and captivating. That was never more manifest than in the three movements of Turina’s popular work inspired by Spanish dances—the jota from Aragón, a Basque zortziko, and a fiery Andalusian farruca.
There is nothing remotely Spanish about Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, but it was a perfect vehicle for the young Andalusian violinist María Dueñas to display her impeccable technique and the variety of colors she draws from her instrument. The concerto was an appropriate nod to Dueñas’ acknowledged fascination with the great violinists of the past, as Jascha Heifetz premiered it with the St. Louis Symphony in 1947 later repeating the work a month later with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.
Korngold composed the concerto as his career in Hollywood was waning. The piece conjures the sophistication of his native Austria, but themes from three of his film scores course through it. The concerto is a showpiece for the violin, and Dueñas captured the shimmering beauty of Korngold’s melodies in soft, sweet, silvery tones as well as the nostalgia that he conveyed through them. It was her virtuosity in the first movement’s cadenza and the intensity of her playing of the relentless, perpetual motion of the finale that was even more spellbinding.
Ravel explored Spanish dances many times, but Alborada del gracioso is one of his most exuberant efforts. Originally conceived as a solo piano piece, Ravel enlivened it with all the colors of Spain through the sounds of crotales, triangle, cymbals, tambourine, and castanets. Principal bassoonist Francisco Alonso added more with his sprightly solos. The same flavors added spice to Manuel de Falla’s Danza No. 1 from La vida breve.
The most drama came, however, with the appearance of soprano Saioa Hernández, who made her American debut with this concert.
Hernández studied with Renata Scotto and Montserrat Caballé. Her dramatic acuteness, undoubtedly influenced by the Italian diva, and the overall evenness and effortless production of her voice, are a tribute to the latter. Hernández began her career performing in zarzuela in Madrid, but has gone on to sing in all of the major European opera houses. Hernández’s rich, throbbing sound leans towards the dramatic, perfect for the arias by Falla, Manuel Penella, and José Serrano that she sang at this concert.
These were songs of romance, such as a lament over a lost love in “Ahì está riendo junto a esa mujer” from La vida breve, confessions of an illicit affair with a bandit in “Juntos desde chavalillos” from Penella’s El gato montés, and passionate outpourings over a younger man in “Qué te importa que no venga?” from Serrano’s Los claveles. Hernández expressed these torrents of emotion in sound that throbbed with desire and despair. Her rewards were two bouquets of red roses from admirers and a prolonged standing ovation that only ended when Afkham escorted her off stage.
The official end of the concert came with Ravel’s La Valse, which he composed after the First World War. Began before the war as a homage to Johann Strauss II, the piece emerged as a biting, somber reflection on its aftermath. The “swirling mist,” as Ravel described the opening measure, seemed to reverberate with the flavors of Spain, rather than Vienna, but they quickly evaporated. The waltzes unfurled in music that was sweeping and lush, distorted by clashing rhythms and harmonies that the orchestra played with ferocity. The five unison chords sounded more of triumph than thunderclaps, but they were terrific.
In the first of two encores Hernández served another outpouring of emotion and voluptuous sound in “Petenera” from Federico Moreno-Torroba’s zarzuela La Marchenera. And Afkham and the orchestra wrapped the evening with the melodious Intermedio from Giménez’s La boda de Luis Alonso.
Posted Jun 08, 2025 at 9:45 am by John Kelly
Another outstanding review of an outstanding concert! Listening to Duenas I admired the fearlessness of her playing. Spiccato in the finale positively electrifying. Why have we not heard Hernandez at the Met? She has sung in every major house in Europe for heavens sake. An huge sound bright but not harsh. Gwyneth Jones without the wobble. She should be Tosca to Tetelmans Cavaradossi. Are you paying attention Mr Gelb?