International flavor spices up Clark orchestra finale

Antonio Di Cristofano Pianist will play with the Clark College Orchestra

The Clark College Orchestra will present its final concert of the season with music from Spain and Italy. The 85-member ensemble is usually led by its music director and conductor, Donald Appert. But for this concert, the orchestra will follow the baton of guest conductor Josep Ferré in a program that also features guest pianist Antonio Di Cristofano.

Both guest artists have been invited to perform with the orchestra in part to broaden the skills of its members, who come from the community and from the college.

"Everyone has been working on the music since the beginning of the term," Appert said. "The orchestra really knows the music. The guest conductor will put the finishing touches on it, adjust the tempos and the volume."

For Ferré, conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica Sant Cugat and the Jove Orquestra Simfònica del Baix Llobregat, the concert represents his U.S. debut.

Di Cristofano has performed many solo and chamber music recitals in Europe, Turkey and the United States. He recently debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, and has recorded a CD of music by Franz Schubert.

The concert will begin with "Camperola, sardana per a orquestra" by Spanish composer Eduard Toldrà. Toldrà originally wrote the piece for a cobla ensemble, which is the traditional folk music ensemble of that region of Spain. Later Toldrà created the orchestral version.

"The sardana is a folk dance from Catalonia," added Appert. "People dance it in the streets, if a cobla ensemble is playing. This piece dates back to the 1920s and is more like folk music. The music is fun and not overly hard for the orchestra. It's a nice audience opener"

The next piece on the program is the "Piano Concerto in Mi" by Domenico Bartolucci who composed music for the Vatican and for the cinema. Bartolucci wrote this three-movement concerto in 1944.

"The music in Bartolucci's piece is somewhat in the style of Rachmaninov," noted Appert. "The Mi in the title refers to solfege (do, reh, me, fa, so, la, te, do) for E. That's because the key of E is the tonal center of the piece."

Joaquim Serra's "Impression Camperoles" ("Rural Impressions") is a suite of pieces from music that he wrote for a cobla ensemble. The Clark College Orchestra will perform three of the movements: "Children Playing," "In the Valley of the Echoes," and "Fiesta."

The audience will probably recognize Manuel de Falla's "Ritual Fire Dance." It comes from his ballet "El amor brujo" ("Love the Magician") and has been one of his most popular pieces.

The concert will conclude with "Mil Lenarium," which Joan Albert Amargós wrote in order to celebrate the 1,000-year anniversary of the monastery at Sant Cugat. In this work, Amargós combines different elements from classical and jazz.

During the week leading up to the concert, Appert has been busy chauffeuring the guest artists around the region. This summer, Appert will conduct the orchestra (Orchestra Sinfonica Città di Grosseto) in Grosseto, Italy, where Di Cristofano serves as the artistic director. Appert will also conduct the El Salvador National Symphony in August. But for this week, Appert is totally concentrating on making the Clark College Orchestra concert a big success.

"This is exciting music that everyone is going to enjoy," said Appert. "You can leave the concert humming the tunes."