The Spanish Embassy, Instituto Cervantes, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and Philippine Philarmonic Orchestra will present the “Bravo España!” concert on Dec. 5, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City.
Featured performers are the Philippine Madrigal Singers, pianist Rudolf Golez and guest conductor Cristobal Halffter.
The concert combines the works of young composer Arriaga, who is considered to be the Spanish Mozart, renowned composer Manuel de Falla and Ruperto Chapi.
The repertoire includes Arriaga’s Los Esclavos Felices; De Falla’s El Sombrero de Tres Picos and Noches en los Jardines de España, Chapi’s Preludio de la Revoltosa; and Cristobal Halffter’s Preludio para Madrid 92 (choir and orchestra).
Born on March 24, 1930, Maestro Halffter is the nephew of Spanish composers Rodolfo and Ernesto Halffter. He was the conductor of the De Falla Orchestra in Spain from 1955 to 1963.
In 1979, he became the artistic director of the Studio for Electronic Music at the Heinrich Strobel Foundation, Freiburg, and was a member of the European Academy of Science, Arts and Humanities, Paris in 1980.
In 1981, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Fine Arts by King Juan Carlos of Spain, and eventually became a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1983, in San Fernando, Madrid.
The maestro is the principal guest conductor of the National Orchestra, Madrid since 1989.
Among the awards he received are the Montaigne-Award of the Hamburger Stiftung F.V.S (1994), and the European Prize for Composition in Karlsruhe (1995).
He received the doctor honoris causa of the University of Leon and of the Universidad Complutense Madrid in 1985 and 1998, respectively.
Maestro Halffter’s opera Don Quijote had its world premiere in year 2000 at Teatro Real in Madrid.
The concert is for the benefit of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra Music Instruments Maintenance Fund.
Tickets are available at Ticketworld (0916-340-3919, 0921-564-2108) and at the CCP Box Office (832-3704, 832-1125). For inquiries, e-mail tickets@ticketworld.com.ph.