- This new exhibition gala was staged with the musical recreation of “El regalo: el cuento de la habanera”.
- The choirs Maestro Ricardo Lafuente and Francisco Vallejos offer exhibition repertoires in which there is no shortage of traditional habaneras, along with other more recent ones that raised prolonged applause from the stalls of the Municipal Theater.
With the echoes still present in the vibrant Opening Gala that featured the performance of Pasión Vega and the choir Sinfonía of the Municipal Choir School, the 69th International Contest of Habaneras and Polyphony has continued its journey with a new evening of exhibition of those in which Torrevieja proves why the Contest is part of its essence with a musical career that lasts almost seven decades.
To achieve this continuity over time, the Patronato del Certamen is clear about the importance of cultivating the grassroots. It does so with the municipal schools of choral singing and plucked string, but also by disseminating the habanera tradition among the youngest with specific publications. This is the case of “El regalo: el cuento de la habanera“, which has two volumes: the first, published in 2004 with text by Amparo Cos and illustrations by Laura Cos and, in 2021, the second part, in this case with drawings by Víctor García. This story has come to life in the scenic-musical recreation directed by Aurelio Martínez, where Juan -Óscar Cruz- receives from his grandfather -Andrés Iglesias- the gift of the Habanera. The staging, in which Amparo Cos herself narrated the story, featured performances by sopranos Concepción Pérez and Nuria Maddaloni and the accompaniment of Adrián Vallejos -saxophone-, Elena García -contrabass- and Zinoviy Harvat -accordion-.
Then the presenter Elena Sanchez, called to the stage two groups torrevejenses on display: the choir and orchestra Maestro Ricardo Lafuente, under the direction of Aurelio Martinez and choral torrevejense Francisco Vallejos, conducted by Belén Puente. In their repertoires did not miss habaneras always, along with other more recent invoice that raised prolonged applause from the stalls of the Municipal Theatre.
In this evening has appeared before the media Nuria Fernandez, who in addition to being a member of the Jury of this edition, is a doctor in Humanities and director of the Master in Choral Conducting at the International University of La Rioja. In his words he praised the trajectory and global projection in the choral panorama of Torrevieja Contest putting it as an “example to follow from all parts of Spain of what is the consolidation of a musical and cultural event.
THIS WEDNESDAY THE COMPETITION STARTS
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the competition will begin its competition phase. It will do so with four South American choirs: the ensemble of madrigalists from the Universidad de Playa Ancha de Valparaíso (Chile); the Ensamble Oikos from Montevideo (Uruguay); the polyphonic choir Adelis Freitez from the State of Lara (Venezuela) and the Pichincha choir from Quito (Ecuador). The obligatory habanera titled ‘Sal de mi vida’ by Víctor Daniel Lozada will be heard for the first time and the jury of this edition, composed of Nuria Fernández, Julia Foruria, Filippa Phalares, Robert Sellés and David Colado, will begin its work.
HABANERA AFTERNOONS
This July 25 have also begun parallel activities to the Contest with the “Habanera evenings” at the junction of Concepción with Fotógrafos Darblade, in which today has participated the Professional Conservatory Francisco Casanovas. An initiative that aims to disseminate the Contest and the Habanera in its widest thematic extension and public, expanding the evenings themselves.
Images provided by the Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonía de Torrevieja.