In pop culture, “musical mashups” continue to show how surprisingly well songs of two seemingly disparate artists can blend together. Any quick online search can find fan-made blended tracks from, say, Slipknot vs. Justin Bieber, Nirvana vs. Rick Astley, and Metallica vs. the Backstreet Boys.
The genres of flamenco and classical music aren’t quite as far apart. Flamenco—the fast-placed, heavily rhythmic music of Andalusian gypsies and immigrants from the south of Spain; and classical, with its European high-class orchestrations, share some commonality.
Those shared influences and musical executions will be on full display on Fantasía Andaluza: Lorca & Falla Reimagined, in which a flamenco group and a classical ensemble will join forces onstage September 27 at MATCH.
The flamenco side will be represented by guitarist/composer-arranger Jeremy García and vocalist/artistic director Irma La Paloma, both also in the ensemble Solero Flamenco. Musical collaborators since 2006, they first met while performing separately at a Houston Symphony gala and later crossed paths again while providing music for flamenco dancers at a studio.
“We had a certain symmetry in the way that we approached learning a new repertoire,” García says via Zoom. “Plus, in flamenco, the relationship between the singer and guitarist is so integral. It’s a great working relationship.” He is also the Affiliate Artist in Guitar at the University of Houston.
Born in Cuba but exiled to Spain before finally coming to America, La Paloma says on the same Zoom that flamenco music was an ever-present part of her DNA, and she was first a dancer before turning her attentions to singing.
“Little girls in my time were taught flamenco dances. And I’ve always had a repertoire of these songs in my soul. When I worked with Jeremy, we understood each other musically. It was as wonderful meeting of energy and musicality.”
García also notes that flamenco is a “huge influence” on Spanish classical music, whose primary instrument is the guitar. “The classical guitar comes from Spain, the modern guitar as we know it from [Antonio] Torres. And [composer] Manuel de Falla said that the guitar was the most important export in Spanish music. I wanted to unify all that together.”
He adds “flamenco was considered a folk art of the Gypsies and Romany people. And there were plenty of classical musicians who loved this music and wanted to elevate it in artistic integrity.”
The program is split into three parts. The first will be Falla’s El Amor Brujo (Love the Sorcerer), which will be “reimagined” with some original musical parts written by García, the “Suite Andaluz.”
Originally written in 1915, it actually exists in several versions as Falla tinkered with the music to make it more appealing to a wider classical musical audience. And while for years the libretto was credited to Gregorio Martínez Sierra, it was eventually discovered that the work was actually done by his wife, María de la O Lejárraga García.
La Paloma will sing the main part of an Andalusian gypsy woman Candela (whose name literally translates into “fire”). Candela is a widow distraught at the loss of her husband, though she begins hearing rumors of his infidelity in life. The husband’s apparition then begins to haunt and torment her. Villagers see her “dancing” with the ghost nightly, and assume she’s gone crazy.
Wanting to break free and begin a new life, Candela seeks the advice of a local sorceress, who tells her she can get rid of her problem by performing a “Fire Dance.” When that doesn’t work, a bolder Candela realizes that she actually holds the power within herself to banish the spirit and pursue a new relationship with her long-time crush, a local fisherman.
La Paloma sees a very contemporary message in the piece about female empowerment. “It’s about a woman who takes her destiny into her own hands instead of just accepting things,” she says. “I think that idea [resonates] very much in today’s world.”
She also sees the piece as a perfect blending of flamenco and classical. “The music from the South of Spain is such a force and influence on classical. But the world wasn’t ready to hear the more organic version Falla intended and put forth originally. So, he rewrote [Candela] for a mezzo-soprano instead of a flamenco singer.”
The second part of the program will feature a traditional flamenco performance with dancing, and the third a selection of antique traditional folk songs first recorded by Federico García Lorca and La Argentinita in 1931, also with new material contributed by Jeremy García.
In addition to Garcia and La Paloma, the flamenco side will have Andrés Felix (cajón), and dancers Solangel Lali Calix, Andrea González, and Gabriela Estrada, with visuals by artist John Reed. The classical ensemble includes Mann-Wen Lo and Cindy Ahn (violin), Tonya Burton (viola), Eunghee Cho (cello), Andrea Benabent (piano), Graham Tobin (flute), and Season Summers (oboe).
“Some of these songs I’ve known since my childhood. This music brings me back. Flamenco has a lot of rhythm. And it differs from the meter of classical music,” La Paloma says, before pontificating on the universal appeal—and reach—of music.
“We are all cousins. We are all related through history, familial ties, and the international language of music,” she sums up. “Plus, as I like to say, there are more Flamenco schools per street block in Japan than Seville, Spain!”
Fantasía Andaluza is at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 27 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center (MATCH), 3400 Main. For more information, call 713-521-4533 or visit MatchHouston.org. $27.
For more on Solero Flamenco, visit SoleroFlamenco.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
