Repertoire

José Melchor Gomis: Arias and songs
Santiago de Masarnau: Los cantos de las Dríadas (Dryad songs) – Selection
Gioachino Rossini: Le comte Ory (Count Ory) – Selection
Manuel García: Canciones y caprichos líricos (Songs and caprices) – Selection
Pauline Viardot-García: Serenade for piano, VWV 3015
Pauline Viardot-García: Cendrillon – Selection

Artists

Aurora Peña, soprano
Juan Songel, piano

Program

An interpretative expressiveness and sweetness of timbre, luminosity of vocal projection and the ease of drawing out the melody are all qualities that have been attributed to the soprano Aurora Peña, who is accompanied by pianist Juan Songel. Aurora Peña traces a lyrical journey that begins with a composer born, like her, in the country of Valencia and who is credited with writing the official anthem of the Spanish Republic. Following on from this, we will hear a selection of Los cantos de las dríadas by Santiago de Masarnau, pianist and composer from Madrid. The work is constructed in three parts and is composed in the form of piano waltzes.

Masarnau was friends with Gioachino Rossini and, fittingly, we shall also enjoy a selection from Rossini’s penultimate opera Le comte Ory. This is a comic opera in which the leading lady is told to seek a lover to cure her melancholy and the count finds himself ridiculed because she does not fall in love with him.

The recital concludes with a father and daughter: Manuel García was a singer, composer and teacher, better known as a performer than for his compositions. Pauline Viardot, on the other hand, had a more modest career as a singer, but she was particularly noted for her creative gifts. We will hear both a serenade by Pauline Viardot, which is full of character and strength, and a fragment of an operetta inspired by Perrault’s version of Cinderella.

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