Concert ‘Clásicos de los musicales / Classics from the Musicales’ in Barcelona – SUMMARY
On Saturday, January 4, the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès conducted by Marc Timón and with the voices of Albert Bolea, Ana San Martín and Sylvia Parejo, offered a special concert entitled ‘Classics from the Musicals’ at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona (read more).
Our friend and colleague Coque Cano was present at the concert and leaves us here an extensive special article exclusively for SoundTrackFest.
Classics from the musicals
It is usually a good way to start the year attending one of those concerts that have a festive touch and make your day. The one we are talking about today, which we attended on January 4, 2025, undoubtedly falls into that group, with a packed Palau de la Música Catalana and the desire to enjoy a short but great review of the history of musicals, both stage and film.
Once again the extraordinary Orquesta Simfònica del Vallès with Marc Timón at the baton, which are already a guarantee of quality and good work. And of love for genres not so common in these parts, although as we have been saying for some time, things seem to be changing in this sense.
Since the premiere of “The Black Crook” in New York in 1866, considered the first musical in history, the genre has always enjoyed avenues of popularity, from the unfading charm of Broadway or London’s West End to the musical films that had a long golden age, including a shower of awards, and then survived a less innocent world thanks to animated films and sporadic but successful productions with a certain revival air or that updated the genre’s own postulates.
So many years of history have filled our collective memory with wonderful songs to which the concert in question, with the obvious time limitations, tried to do justice and even managed to accommodate a fantastic “premiere”. In a review like this one, many pieces will always be missed, but those that were there not only had to be there but were a good summary of the enormous quality and diversity of the genre and of those geniuses who made it great.
In any case, and without sounding like a reproach but more like a second chance, there were some names that were particularly missed and could justify a sequel to this concert in the near future, such as Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Michel Legrand, Alan Menken, Frederick Loewe, Irving Berlin or the Sherman brothers. Even Marc Shaiman, whose musical composing facet already showed its full potential in the concerts held at the Mosma of the year 2022 (read article), in which also performed one of the soloists of the concert that we now comment.
In connection with this last point, in addition to highlighting the orchestra and conductor as we have already done, we cannot but do the same with the three singers who knew how to live up to such well-known pieces and sometimes as complicated as those that were interpreted. Both Albert Bolea (who already shone in the aforementioned Shaiman concert), as well as Ana San Martín and Sylvia Parejo, were fantastic and clearly went from less to more, ending on a high note with an encore that we will talk about soon.
Before continuing and commenting on the different pieces performed, we would like to make a brief parenthesis to highlight the value of quality concerts like this one, which indirectly can be affected by the controversy unleashed in parallel as a result of another cinematographic New Year’s concert that turned out to be a real disaster and a monumental joke.
Surely this unfortunate episode did not go unnoticed by anyone, which can clearly damage the perception of concerts dedicated to film music, as the whole press, including national newspapers and even public television stations, echoed what happened (read news).
Thus, last January 1st there was also in Barcelona and more specifically in the prestigious Gran Teatre del Liceu, a concert dedicated to John Williams and Hans Zimmer (by the way, I already commented at the time how inappropriate it is to have two composers so different in the same concert, although obviously the embarrassment does not come from there), performed by the, a priori expert, Hollywood Symphony Orchestra, which “borrows” the name of the prestigious (this yes) orchestra located in Los Angeles and responsible for most of the soundtrack recordings in the Mecca of cinema.
Although the undersigned did not attend personally, family and friends did and as indicated it was chaotic and embarrassing, with a formation full of shortcomings both in number and quality, musicians who on the other hand ended up denouncing the precarious working conditions to which they were subjected by the producer of the event. All this in a concert with an average price of about 60 € per person and as we say in a temple and flagship of the country’s music.
The controversy has caused the Auditori to cancel another upcoming concert dedicated to cinema with the same orchestra and the same producer NK Prodarte, which have not only put themselves in the eye of the hurricane, but have indirectly dragged with them the rest of the film music concerts. After years of struggle to achieve the acceptance of the great orchestras and concert music halls, it is undoubtedly a disgrace that dubious projects like this can cause immediate damage to events dedicated to film music.
Having made this necessary note, let this commentary serve not only to denounce infamous productions that should never see the light of day, but above all to value the rest of the concerts that, like the one we are dealing with, involve true professionals and artists and are prepared with the utmost rigor and passion. There is no other way if we want the wheel to keep turning.
But as we say, we can only say positive things about this wonderful concert entitled “Clàssics dels Musical / Classics from the Musicals “, because it was an absolute pleasure from beginning to end.
It began with the vibrant overture written in 1930 by the famous George Gershwin for the musical Girl Crazy, which was adapted to the movies on several occasions, being especially remembered the first version by Busby Berkeley in 1943, starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. It includes throughout its almost 6 minutes and as a suite the melodies of the three most remembered songs of this timeless classic (“I got rhytm”, “Embraceable you” and “But not for me”), and resulted in an unbeatable staging, with a spirited direction by Marc Timón.
From this point on, the program was to suffer alterations in its order, so that what followed was not the famous “Do, Re, Mi” from The Sound of Music, but The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the only composer to repeat. Changing their place in the program not only with Richard Rodgers’ song but also with Les Miserables, the songs “Think of me” and “The music of the night” were performed.
Here we start already with the interventions of the singers, who as we have said increased their performances as the concert progressed, which does not mean that both Ana San Martín and Albert Bolea failed in these first two performances, on the contrary, although they shone more for subtlety than for strength, something that on the other hand fits like a glove to these two precious pieces of one of the most successful musicals in history.
After this double moment of calm, Sylvia Parejo, who started with all the force that the piece demanded, gave a fabulous Cabaret, with a suite of the iconic musical with music by John Cander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, masterfully brought to the movies by Bob Fosse with Liza Minelli as the protagonist.
With pulses racing, the concert took us back to calm through one of the most famous melodies in history, the celestial “Memory”, which Lloyd Webber wrote for the musical Cats. Ana San Martín sublimated it, touching the hearts of an engrossed audience.
Nothing better to prepare the ground for one of the biggest challenges of the program, perhaps the best musical ever written, at least for this writer: West Side Story. Dated its premiere in 1957, the masterpiece written by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by another genius like Stephen Sondheim and choreography by the great Jerome Robbins, was taken to the big screen in 1961 by Robbins himself and Robert Wise, winning 10 Oscars, and later enjoyed another masterful cinematographic approach by the hand of another great like Steven Spielberg.
Such an illustrious name is significant of the dimension and popularity of the achievement, which entails a plus of “responsibility” for the orchestra, conductor and performers. Well, not only did they come out strengthened from the challenge, but they dared to start with the memorable and very complicated prologue, demonstrating that Marc Timón is one of the best conductors of today. He took and did not let go of such a groundbreaking piece, giving it all the twists and vigor it needed, and then did the same with the vertiginous “Mambo”, performed without interruption and which also led to a funny approach to the audience, which Timón “directed” to give the vocal replies with the word that gives the piece its name.
A 10 from the orchestra and conductor that added another one with Albert Bolea‘s interpretation of “Maria”, at the height of the best versions that have been heard. One of those moments that justify the price of any ticket.
Then it was the turn of another of the totems of musical theater, the timeless Les Miserables, by the French composer Claude-Michel Schönberg (by the way, a typo in the program attributed this work to Lloyd Webber). The sad yet hopeful tune “I dreamed a dream” was interpreted with delicacy and emotion by Ana San Martín, and demonstrated the composer’s melodic gift. And the same can be said of the second song that was interpreted from this wonderful musical, with a wonderful Sylvia Parejo. Two voices with different registers that shone and made the music of such a distinguished work shine, which was vindicated with exquisite performances.
So much gravity cried out for a moment of relaxation, hence the change of place of the magical “Do, Re, Mi” was a success. There is no doubt that this song by Sonrisas y Lágrimas, another of those giants of bombproof popularity, had to be present and if it did well, it had to be one of the highlights of the concert. And it was.
This famous musical written by the tandem formed by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II was adapted to film in 1965, again with Robert Wise as director, making the story of this novice, played by Julie Andrews, who left the convent to take care of the children of the widowed Captain Von Trapp, become one of the most beloved classics by the general public. And precisely the song in which the protagonist teaches the children to sing is one of those that crosses all generational boundaries.
Ana San Martín played the role of Maria Von Trapp, in a version dubbed into Catalan that delighted the audience, many of whom could be seen singing in the privacy of their seats and even dancing discreetly. A party guaranteed by a song whose charm never leaves you indifferent.
The aforementioned good decision regarding the placement of this song had a double meaning, since, being dubbed into Catalan, it was also a natural transition to the next work on the program, the premiere (at least in concert) of the musical Josafat, composed by Marc Timón himself, with lyrics by Josep Pujol and based on the work by Prudenci Bertrana, a classic of Catalan literature about the bell ringer of the cathedral of Girona and his relationship with two prostitutes of an antagonistic nature.
Although this is a musical composed and premiered 10 years ago (for those who want to listen to it in its entirety, it is available on the usual music platforms), the truth is that it suffered a cancellation for reasons beyond the control of production and remained in an unjust limbo from which it has been provisionally rescued by its author by including it in the program of the concert that concerns us.
It is a very ambitious score, with one foot in Broadway and the other in more cinematographic musicals, that has nothing to envy to great productions that have been on the bill for years and that certainly deserves a second chance, given its quality.
Three of the songs from the musical were performed, the ones centered on the three main characters and their impossible relationship, so the selection served almost as a summary of the play.
The first, interpreted with sensitivity by Sylvia Parejo, corresponds to the theme of Fineta (“Flor de carrer”), the prostitute who brings light into Josafat’s life and is a beautiful melody, which was not at all out of tune among so many prodigious ballads. A delicacy that surprised everyone present and that gave way to the theme of his partner Pepona (“L’àngel blau”), who on the contrary desires Josafat for the beast inside him, so he has a theme that is the dark reverse of the previous one, like the two sides of the same coin. A great musical idea that also made it possible for Ana San Martín to shine, albeit in a different register.
Marc Timón had previously warned that the third theme would bring together the three characters and that it was a full-fledged spoiler about how Betrana resolved his masterpiece. The theme in question, entitled “Viacrucis de lascivia”, was one more proof that great musicals can also be born in our country and that they deserve the attention of our theaters. As was to be expected, the protagonist Josafat was played by Albert Bolea, achieving an unprecedented moment that nevertheless impressed an audience that burst into applause at its conclusion.
With the good taste in our mouths of this symphonic suite by Josaphat, we arrived at the final, more contemporary part. Thus, the penultimate piece of the program was the famous “Circle of Life” from the Disney production The Lion King, fruit of the inexhaustible talent of a star like Elton John. It must be said that it was a “minimalist” version, as there was no choir or certain African percussions of the original, but Albert Bolea undoubtedly managed to offer a more than remarkable performance.
And to end the programmed repertoire, came one of the last great musicals of cinema, a leap of faith on the part of its creators, director Damien Chazelle and the young composer Justin Hurwitz. La La Land, a 2016 film starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is both an ode to the genre and a masterful musical on its own merits, and to represent it, the film’s opening track, the radiant and spectacular “Another day of sun,” was chosen. The three singers appeared to demonstrate that at that stage of the concert they were capable of almost anything, with a flying Orquesta Simfònica del Vallès that was allowed to replicate instrumentally the cláxones that end the piece in its original version. A marvel.
A devoted audience that could not help but dance at many moments to Hurwitz’s chords showed their appreciation with a long string of applause, hoping without a doubt that their enthusiasm would be reciprocated with an encore, which would round off this great concert.
And that encore came full circle as we returned to the Gershwin of Girl Crazy, not to hear the overture again, but to enjoy a glorious end to the party with the song “I got rhythm”, the hallmark of the genre which, needless to say, was superbly interpreted by the OSV and by the three singers, with special mention here to Sylvia Parejo, who took the lead voice with panache, ease and self-confidence.
It was so well liked that it was performed a second time, achieving a perfect communion between the audience on the one hand and the orchestra, conductor and performers on the other.
Let us not be fooled, film music and musical theater are capable of offering quality concerts, elegant, sumptuous and at the same time impeccably prepared and executed. The problem will never be the music but the passion and professionalism to deliver a product as joyful as this one. To paraphrase the title of the 1974 film, THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!
Article and pictures by Coque Cano