Spanish violinist Leticia Moreno is thrilled to make her National Symphony Orchestra debut under the baton of her mentor and friend Christoph Eschenbach. She will perform Eduardo Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole,” a contagious work that demands virtuosic technique by the soloist as it shamelessly infiltrates every fiber of the listener.
Like Emmanuel Chabrier, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, his fellow French composers featured in this week’s program, Lalo was captivated by the tantalizing dance rhythms and harmonies from across the Pyrenees.
“I’m always mesmerized by the fact that he never visited France, even though it was so near,” Miss Moreno told The Washington Times. “When you don’t know about a country, you mystify its tone and character. He had Spanish blood, and he utilized the rhythms and his technical skills to create a marvelous dialogue that I love sharing. The tricky rhythms that go into the mixture are so much fun to play.
“I learned this work when I was 15 and have played it on and off since then,” Miss Moreno said. “I’m glad to have had this time to understand it. It lives from the personal inspiration you give it. With works by Bach and others, you have to turn yourself into the composer. Their works are perfect as done, but playing Lalo requires you to feel your own emotions and experiences. It must be played with specific tempi, rubato and dynamics, yet Lalo lives from your emotions and the different colors you create.”
Miss Moreno describes these “colors” as being “like the light in Spain that provides a particular palette for painting and architecture.” She is excited to be playing during the Kennedy Center’s Iberian Suite festival, which displays all manner of art during its stay at the performing arts center.
“[The Iberian Suite offers] experiences showing the exchange of ways of living and thinking of the Iberian culture,” she said. “For eight centuries, that peninsula brought together Arabs, Jews, Christians and influences from Latin America and Africa, just as the music brings together many aspects of the culture.”
Miss Moreno was born in Boston and lived there until she was 4. At the age of 3, she began the Suzuki method in violin and piano and was giving recitals by age 5. She began serious study at the age of 9 at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina in Sofia, Bulgaria, followed by the Hochschule fur Musik und Tanz Koln in Germany. At the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, she received the highest degree in the history of the school for her final recital.
Among her numerous awards is one from Prince Felipe of Spain. She performs with major orchestras worldwide on her Nicola Gagliano from 1762, which she adores for its “sound of all possible colors I could dream of.”
She is especially honored to have studied with Mstislav Rostropovich. He was such a profound influence on her that she dedicated to him her new Deutsche Grammophon recording of Shostakovich’s “Violin Concerto No. 1” and “Preludes” for violin and piano. She will sign it after each performance this week along with “Spanish Landscapes,” a CD of obscure Spanish music.
“Rostropovich was the face of nature,” Miss Moreno said. “I learned all the composers and so much else through him. He loved Shostakovich, and so I wanted to honor him with the recording. The other recording is my tribute to Spain. Because the Spanish violin is not well-known, I wanted to see that Spanish culture gets a little attention. I’m accompanied on it by pianist Ana-Maria Vera, my partner on last season’s [European Concert Hall Organization] “Rising Star” tour. She was born here in Washington, but we met in London and traveled to all the wonderful halls of Europe.”
The concert opener is Chabrier’s joyful “Rapsodie Espana.” Following the Lalo, Debussy’s “Iberia” continues the Spanish influence in a tuneful interpretation of dance rhythms and imagined perceptions of the country he visited for only one day. Ravel’s captivating “Bolero” is the resounding finale. Despite one critic’s panning of it as “the most insolent monstrosity ever perpetrated in the history of music,” it has prevailed as one of the most beloved and best-known of concert works.
As a special treat for the public, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage will continue the Iberian Suite theme Saturday at 6 p.m. with a free program of works by Enrique Granados and Joaquin Turina. Granados’ “Piano Trio” features three members of the NSO: Lisa Emenheiser, piano; Natasha Bogachek, violin; and Mark Evans, cello. Maestro Eschenbach at the piano and Miss Moreno will perform Turina’s “The Poem of a Sanlucar Girl.”
“These concerts are the first time Maestro Eschenbach and I have performed together,” Miss Moreno said. “Ever since I first went to Paris to work with him, he has been a mentor and a great inspiration, so I’m very excited to work with him as a partner. I want the Kennedy Center audience to discover that the Lalo work is full of color, flavor and rhythms that flirt with each other. They will enjoy the exchange of energies.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, with guest violinist Leticia Moreno
WHERE: Kennedy Center Concert Hall
WHEN: Thursday at 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.
INFO: Tickets $10 to $85 by calling 202/4674600, 800/444-1324 or by visiting Kennedy-Center.org
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