Reno Phil: Landscapes & Legends of Mexico
Our February double-concert series with the Reno Philharmonic is going to transport the audience into the heart of Mexico with music and images. The “Landscapes and Legends of Mexico” concert will be led by guest conductor David Lockington and feature our two latest visual concertos, Pre~Columbia and Mágico. Premiering less than two years ago with the Dallas Symphony, these lively, eye-opening visual pieces are currently our most popular and have been presented with a wide-range of orchestras from South Carolina and Kansas to Arizona and Oregon.
Set to the thunderous first movement from Revueltas’s La Noche de los Mayas, Pre~Columbia depicts the imposing ruins left by sophisticated Mesoamerican civilizations among the dense jungles and high plateaus of central and southern Mexico. Palenque, Chichén Itzá, Monte Albán, Uxmal, Ek’ Balam, and Teotihuacán are just some of the ancient cities depicted in the piece.
Because the ancient is indelibly woven into Mexico’s present-day cultural traditions, Pre~Columbia sets the stage for Mágico, a two-part piece that creates a colorful tapestry of the people, places, festivals, and everyday life that make contemporary Mexico such a fascinating and diverse country. To produce Pre~Columbia and Mágico, Westwater Arts Multimedia Artist Nicholas Bardonnay spent a year living and photographing in Mexico where he captured places, festivities and facets of life from 18 Mexican states. “This is the most dynamic and logistically challenging project I’ve ever photographed, but it was a labor of love and I consider it a thank-you gift to the wonderful people I met along the way, during one of the best years of my life,” says Nicholas of the production.
For the concert in Reno, Nicholas is live-cuing all of his choreographed visuals for Mágico alongside the Phil’s performances of Copland’s El Salón México and Márquez’s Danzón No. 2. Both works are sure to get some audience foot tapping going. For some, the visuals will be a connection to places they grew up in or where their families have roots. For those with very limited experience of Mexico, they instill a greater appreciation for Mexico’s authentic beauty, people, and rich cultural life that Mexican citizens cherish very deeply. We’re so proud that these visual pieces are inspiring “I didn’t realize Mexico had…” conversations all over the US!
Kicking off the program is Strauss’s Don Quixote, which captures the larger-than-life legend of the itinerant knight. Interestingly, the novel also inspired one of the most well-known cultural festivals in Mexico, Festival Internacional Cervantino (named after Cervantes, author of Don Quixote). The annual fall festival is held in the beautiful colonial-era city of Guanajuato, and coincidentally, Guanajuato is also where Nicholas spent the most time. He plans to include many more anecdotes during his two pre-concert talks. ¡Esperamos que nos vemos pronto!
