Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Symphony Orchestra of Mexico stops at Ham Hall

What: Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico.

When: 8 p.m. today.

Where: UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall.

Tickets: $29, $45, $59.

Information: 895-2787.

The National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico -- Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico -- will build a musical bridge across the border with a performance tonight at Artemus Ham Hall on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus.

The orchestra, under the baton of music director Enrique Arturo Diemecke, will launch the 27th season of UNLV's Charles Vanda Master Series.

UNLV Performing Arts had a voice in the music selection, resulting in two Mexico/Latin-inspired works by American composers and one by a Mexican composer.

The three pieces are "El Salon Mexico" by Aaron Copland, "Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story' " by Leonard Bernstein and "La Coronela" by Silvestre Revueltas.

The orchestra is on a 10-city coast-to-coast tour, which began in Southern California on Wednesday. Las Vegas is its second stop. Other locales include New York's Carnegie Hall and the Symphony Center in Chicago, where it is being presented by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Founded in Mexico City in 1928, the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico (OSNM) is the most important and influential symphonic ensemble in Mexico. During its long history, the orchestra has been conducted by Pierre Monteux, Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Otto Klemperer, Krzysztof Penderecki and Darius Milhaud, among other distinguished maestros.

American-trained (at Catholic University, Washington, D.C., and at the Pierre Monteux School for Advanced Conductors), Diemecke became music director in 1990. He is also an accomplished composer and orchestral arranger.

OSNM is performing in Las Vegas for the first time. Diemecke indicated one goal of the tour is to introduce the music of Mexico to the United States.

"We knew Las Vegas has an audience interested in classical music," he said, "so we came here. Many people, including Americans, think Mexican music is only mariachis. However, wherever we have performed, I have seen great interest in our music.

"It is time to globalize Mexico's music and increase awareness of our composers and how American composers have drawn from our Mexican musical heritage."

As an example, Diemecke cited Copland.

"Copland visited Mexico in the 1930s, playing and conducting," Diemecke said. "He heard works of Marquez and Revueltas. He went to a cantina, El Salon de Mexico, listened to the band, the dance music, the mariachis and Mexican popular tunes. He used them as his inspiration for 'El Salon Mexico.' "

Diemecke also cited the Latin flavor of much of "West Side Story." He particularly pointed out the Latin rhythms, melodies and dances -- huapango, cha-cha, mambo, and rhumba.

"Through the Latin music, the audience can make a connection with New York and its ethnic groups and social styles and behaviors," he said. "It's a way of expressing these themes musically in a dramatic work."

"La Coronela," music for a ballet, is the last piece Revueltas wrote, but he never heard it performed. A lot of the original score was lost. However, various composers attempted to reconstruct the piece, and it was still performed.

With the permission of the late composer's family, Diemecke has created a new score. The theme is based on the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1921.

"In the 1930s," Diemecke said, "a lot of people wanted to emphasize the feelings of workers, people from the countryside, who wanted a broader justice. La Coronela is a lady, perhaps representing death, who helps and inspires the men to fight."

Diemecke described the style of music as "nationalistic," from the "dances and very colorful Mexican tunes played by bands in kiosks, typical of the folklore of Mexico."

The first "act/movement" depicts La Coronela and the country folk; the second, the rich people, the bourgeoisie; the third, the revolution/fight, which Diemecke compared to a "kind of movie score." In the finale, Coronela and the country folk win, "so the revolution has a happy ending," he said, "and everyone is looking forward to a new life of social justice."

In addition to serving as music director of OSNM, which performs 26 pairs of concerts in Mexico City between September and June, Diemecke is music director of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra (single monthly concerts, September to June), and virtually the same schedule with the Flint (Mich.) Symphony Orchestra.

Four times each summer, Diemecke is principal guest conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier-Languedoc-Roussillon in France.

Diemecke is also greatly in demand as guest conductor with major orchestras throughout the world, including the Utah Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. His concerts have generated rave reviews.

Diemecke conducts all rehearsals of his own orchestras and those he guest conducts.

"We work out the style of each piece and the situation relevant to what we're playing," he explained. "It is important for every performance to sound fresh and for everyone to give more than 100 percent every time."

When asked how he manages his busy schedule, Diemecke quipped, "My home address is a Boeing 747, and I communicate with my cell phone and e-mail."

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