This Friday, January 6, there will be the Kings concert in Guayaquil, a repertoire selected to close the Christmas season with opera and harmonies of jazz. This is what the tenor Francisco Ortega and the pianist Joan Sánchez promise, who invite pilgrims from Guayaquil to undertake the journey of the Magi, following the star, until they reach Jesus.
Christmas yet? Yes, says Sánchez, and adds that they thought it appropriate to bring these classics to the Three Kings Day, the commemoration of the visit of the Magiwho in the gospels are not described as kings nor are they three nor are their names known, and yet they have seen their own legend emerge, for more than twenty centuries.
The pianist affirms that they want to present a Show of a high artistic level; the selection of themes is by Francisco Ortega, and combines elements of operatic and lyrical singing with harmonies, in this case on the piano, with a touch of jazz, which is Sánchez’s specialty.
“A good mix of these elements is achieved, although they are quite different in tradition and time; I think every artistic element, with good criteria, can be fused in a pleasant way, as long as there is respect and understanding of what we do”.
They have searched for a cozy space, in Muégano, because they want an intimate atmosphere. “From my side, I want to evoke that night in which the Magi from the East visited and honored the promised Messiah with the gifts they brought”, explains Sanchez. “I want to evoke this moment from art, but also transfer to that night that mixture of cultures, in a very rustic environment (the manger with its smell of animals and straw) and these Wizards who followed a star”.
It must be remembered that the Wizards originally received that name because their science or studies were astrology. “They were not Jews, they came from another culture, but they had this vision that they were going to see a King, and they came to honor him.”
How to honor that meeting from the piano and singing? There are songs in English and Spanish, like the classic Oh Holy Night (Santa la noche), The Drummer, Silent Night, The First Christmas, among other. “We have a very beautiful song that Francisco chose, with incredible sensitivity, from the composer (Argentine pianist and folklorist) Ariel Ramirez; is named Christmas in summer, purely in Spanish.
This title, once performed by José Carreras, falls with the Guayaquil experience of Christmas, in the hottest time of the year. “He talks about the nativity, but in an environment like ours, without snow; I get very emotional when I play it.”
Sanchez studied jazz at the Manhattan School of Music, in New York, and Ortega trained in opera at Indiana University and Louisiana State University. “It is not very common for classical purists to unite these things,” says the pianist, who during 2022 has been in some Guayaquil venues, including the experimental one at the Teatro Centro de Arte (Stories in New York), “why apart from sharing our music, we take time to share with the audience about our experience chasing our dreams in the Big Apple.”
Francisco Ortega, for his part, presented this year in our city a series of concerts for Eastersuch as the production of sacred music Member Jesus Nostriby D. Buxtehude, “a work of indescribable beauty about the passion of Christ”, together with the Guayaquil Symphony Orchestra.
Kings concert It is the first production that Sánchez and Ortega make together, with the desire to connect with the audience through music, but also through narrative “and very honest stories.” Will be This Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Muégano Teatro (Callejón Magallanes and Rocafuerte, between Tomás Martínez and Panamá), and attendees will also be able to enjoy the gastronomy of La Suculenta restaurant. Cost: $20. Reservations: 099-229-4051. (AND)
Source: Eluniverso
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