|
Three Latin Dances for Orchestra
Duration: 20 minutes
Trilógica unites three of the composer’s most popularconcert overtures into one festive crowd-pleaser which blends Mexican folk melodies, American jazz and driving Latin rhythms. The title is a triple pun combining the Spanish words for “logic,” “illogic” and “trilogy.” The movements may also be performed separately:
I. Piñata (1991), 6’
2+pic.22.asx.2/4331/timp.3perc/hp.pf/str
“... the blockbuster of the concert, a kaleidoscope of color, rhythms, textures and dynamics, it elaborated on the hi-jinks of breaking a piñata. There (were) hints of Leonard Bernstein’s jazzy show tunes, Latin Syncopation, massed brass, a riot of percussion with marimba, xylophone, blocks, bells, drums and a delicious violin duet in the strings that held the piñata. It left us wanting more.”
Betty Ligon, El Paso Herald Post
II. Tango di Tango (1985), based on a theme from the chamber opera, Tango, 8’
2+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn/4331/timp.3perc/hp.pf/str
“...a light-hearted piece by a very serious composer, and as such may well prove to be one of the musical treasures of our time.
Wayne Lee Gay, Ft. Worth Star Telegram
“Rodríguez ... has moved from youthful modish dissonance to a more popular style accessible, rather what Astor Piazzola, the classically inclined Argentine tango master, might compose were he bolder about breaking the boundaries of the tango form.”
John Rockwell, New York Times
III. Hot Buttered Rumba (1996), 6’
2+pic.22.asx.2/4331/timp.3perc/hp.pf/str
“...six effervescent minutes of Cuban dance energy ... a little tipsy ...with its bright Bernsteinian harmonies, its supple Latin dance rhythms and its controlled sexy dynamic swells and ritards. There is a good deal of hidden skill to making a piece like this, and also to making it work in performance ... pure joy.”
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
|