Gabriela Ortiz
Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No.2 is laidback and seductively tuneful, music to open a bottle for and ease into the slinky Mexican dance rhythms, evidently enjoyed by the Philharmonia and Marin Alsop. Similarly Gabriela Ortiz’s Cello Concerto, written for and played by Alisa Weilerstein, is listener-friendly and colourful, the cello sometimes sounding like/masquerading as another instrument. A no-doubt excellent performance of a piece that, so far, hasn’t made much impression on me, although its ambition is clear enough. Scheherazade was vivid, stories being told by the named young one through 1,001 nights, led by a violin, Sergey Ostrovsky on this occasion with generous phrasing and Slavonic tone, the Philharmonia and Alsop relishing Rimsky’s brilliant orchestration and his gift for evocation, characterisation and drama.
Arturo Márquez: Danzón No.2
Gabriela Ortiz: Cello Concerto (Dzonot) (London premiere)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002s3y5
https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Gabriela-Ortiz-Dzonot/111820