Album

Issued by the giant Sony Classical label on the occasion of Mexico's bicentennial in 2010, this album represents something of an attempt to construct a Latin counterpart to the numerous collections of North American favorites on the market. One key to making such a release successful is to combine chestnuts with a few unexpected selections, and that's what conductor Alondra de la Parra does here. She's an interesting figure: young, charismatic, born in New York, raised in Mexico City, and educated in Britain, Mexico, and the U.S., she seems ideally situated to convey the riches of Mexican music to a wider audience, and she has even formed her own group, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas. to that end. The program begins with a work that's a chestnut for Mexican listeners, although perhaps not for outsiders: the Huapango of José Pablo Moncayo. De la Parra then moves through various phases of Mexican modernist movements of the early and middle 20th century, covering familiar pieces such as Ponce's Concierto del sur for guitar and orchestra, as well as nice finds (at least for non-Mexicans as Candelario Huízar's Imágenes, an Impressionist work that de la Parra captures nicely with the word "surrealistic"). A good deal of the second disc consists of recent compositions, and several of these would fit beautifully on modern symphonic concerts. Eugenio Toussaint's Concierto para piano improvisado y orquesta, here excerpted, is a full-blown jazz concerto. The most fun may be the finale, Ernesto Chapela's ínguese, whose title is a sort of wordplay involving probably the strongest obscenity ever to become part of a classical composition. The work depicts a 1999 soccer match between Mexico and Brazil, with the Mexican team represented by the winds and the Brazilians by the brass, the crowd by the strings. The conductor, naturally enough, is the referee. Chapela has said he was inspired by the foul language and insults hurled by fans on both sides, and that he could not think of a better contemporary representation of nationalism than a soccer match. The result is something like Ives in a rough-and-tumble Latin American context, and it's a nice sendoff from an exciting ride. Recommended not only as a handy collection of Mexican favorites, but also for those interested in new directions in Mexican music.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1 of 2
José Pablo Moncayo Garcia Composer Huapango Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
1	Huapango	8:18			$0.99
Gustavo Campa Composer Mélodie, for violin and orchestra, Op.1 Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor, Daniel Andai Violin
2	Mélodie, for violin and orchestra, Op.1	5:25			$0.99
Ricardo Castro Composer Intermezzo de Atzimba Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
3	Intermezzo de Atzimba	5:02			$0.99
Candelario Huízar Composer Imágenes Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
4	Imágenes	16:46			Album Only
Manuel Ponce Composer Concierto del sur, for guitar and orchestra Work 26:04 Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Pablo Sáinz Villegas Guitar, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
5	1.Allegro moderato	13:33			Album Only
6	2.Andante	6:40			$0.99
7	3.Allegro moderato e festivo	5:51			$0.99
Juventino Rosas Composer Sobre las olas (Over the waves) Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
8	Sobre las olas (Over the waves)	4:39			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
Arturo Márquez Composer Danzón No.2 Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
1	Danzón No.2	9:26			$0.99
Silvestre Revueltas Composer Sensemaya Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
2	Sensemaya	6:37			$0.99
Carlos Chávez Composer Suite de caballos de vapor (Horse Power Suite) Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
3	El Trópico	7:31			$0.99
Federico Ibarra Composer Symphony No.2 Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
4	Las antesalas del sueño	9:38			$0.99
Eugenio Toussaint Composer Concerto for Improvised Piano and Orchestra Work Alex Brown Piano, Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
5	2.Largo	6:54			$0.99
Mario Lavista Composer Clepsydra Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
6	Clepsydra	10:37			Album Only
Enrico Chapela Composer ínguese Work Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas Orchestra, Alondra De La Parra Conductor
7	ínguese	8:54			$0.99