SPANISH BRASS DAZZLE IN CONCERTS, MASTER CLASS
SPANISH BRASS DAZZLE IN CONCERTS, MASTER CLASS
June 11, 2013
This past weekend, Guadalajara brass instrument enthusiasts were treated to two exceptional concert performances and a very enlightening master class given by Spanish Brass/Luur Metalls, a brass quintet hailing from Valencia, Spain.
The quintet, consisting of trumpet players Carlos Beneto Grau and Juanjo Serna Salvador, trombonist Inda Bonet Manrique and tubist Sergio Finca Quiros, performed on Friday evening and again on Sunday afternoon as featured guest soloist with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco. The piece performed was “La Devota Lasciva” (The Lascivious Devout), by Valencian composer Juan J. Colomer (now based in Los Angeles).
This three-movement work features an interplay of Baroque-type themes juxtaposed with contemporary harmonies and rhythms, tossed about playfully between the brass quintet and the orchestra. The quintet astounded with its virtuosity and its strict attention to the details of ensemble playing, with extremely rapid articulations performed in perfect synchroneity by the five members. The acoustics of the Teatro Degollado were particularly favorable for the piccolo trumpet, played by Carlos Beneto. His interventions on this instrument in Colomer’s Baroque-influenced passages displayed brilliance and an oboe-like clarity.
The audience responded with loud ovations, resulting in one encore, the well-known “Intermedio” of Las Bodas de Luis Alonso by Spanish composer Geronimo Giménez, for the Friday concert and two encores, The Sidewinder by jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan, and Andaluza (Spanish Dance No. 5) by Enrique Granados, for an especially enthusiastic Sunday crowd.
On Saturday morning, the quintet gave the locals new inspiration for honing their own skills in the Chamber Hall of the Teatro Degollado, where the members of Spanish Brass/Luur Metalls offered a three-part master class to a packed hall of attentive brass instrument performers and enthusiasts of all ages.