Don Quixote – Concert Summary
On Friday, February 14, a special concert was held in Malaga (Spain), where composer and conductor Arturo Díez Boscovich, led the Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga (Philharmonic Orchestra of Malaga), to premiere two works of his creation: the first one dedicated to the Soho Theater in Malaga and the second one dedicated to Don Quixote.
Casares on guitar, with Pablo Bujalance responsible for the dramaturgy (read news).
Reme Díaz attended the concert, and offers us this special article exclusively for SoundTrackFest.
NOTE: SoundTrackFest would like to send a special thanks to Pablo Bujalance, for his dedication to leave us a few words about the event.
DON QUIXOTE, A MUSICAL ADVENTURE FOR NARRATOR AND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
When we talk about soundtracks we’re used to concerts with orchestra and, sometimes, movie screenings. However, the “musical adventure for narrator and symphony orchestra of Don Quixote” we enjoyed last Friday February the 14th, 2020 at the Auditorium Edgar Neville (Diputación de Málaga) was an amazing exercise of creativity where the soundtrack and the story blew the imagination of an almost complete venue.
Despite the multiple references that cinema, theater, television or animation has provided us for this archetype, the concert reversed that passive attitude of the spectator and converting them into an imaginary protagonist and companion of the “Knight of the sad figure”.
And everything thanks to one of those rare symbiosis not frequently seen, gathering an extraordinary cast that overflowed talent on the stage: the masterful score and conducting of maestro Arturo Diez Boscovich, the impeccable artistic performance of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Malaga and the acclaimed Malaga-born guitarist Daniel Casares, the immeasurable acting of veteran voice actor Camilo García and, of course, the adapted dramaturgy from Cervantes´s masterpiece by the hand of the great journalist and writer Pablo Bujalance.
In this “soundtrack”, the first thing was not the text but the musical composition, presented in 2004 by Boscovich for a contest in the Italian city of Città di Castello. The requirement was to focus the work on Don Quixote and it ended winning the contest. Since then, as Pablo Bujalance himself tells us, Arturo had the idea of recovering it for symphonic orchestra with a narrator, as in “Peter and the Wolf” by Prokofiev. In 2019 he finally decided to shape it and that was when he contacted the journalist to write the texts.
“I started from the scenes that were already composed and then added others from myself. Then, we adjusted everything to fit perfectly music and text. Everything inspired by the original Cervantes, but with a very free adaptation. In the end, the result has little to do with that Quixote of 2004”, Bujalance tells us.
Nevertheless, the concert started with another soundtrack premiere, “A Teatro del Soho Celebration”, composed by Boscovich for the recently released Antonio Banderas project, of which he is the musical director. An equally powerful and intimate score that reminds maestro John Williams and honors Banderas’ own spirit of effort and dedication until his dream is fulfilled.
And speaking of dreams, we moved on to Don Quixote, an archetype of madness, to achieve a dream defeated by the sanity of reality. Camilo García was in charge of the narration and of performing the rest of the characters (Don Quixote, Sancho Panza). The idea of having him there appeared at the beginning, as Pablo Bujalance tells us: “OFM (Philharmonic Orchestra of Malaga) proposed him to collaborate and he loved the idea, so he agreed enthusiastically. He has done many things as an actor, and has even directed operas, but he had never been with an orchestra on stage.” A privilege to see him act not only with the voice but with the expressiveness of his gestures. If we closed our eyes we could sometimes imagine Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Gerard Depardieu or even Christopher Lee’s Saruman in “The Lord of the Rings.” (NOTE: He’s the Spanish dubbing voice for those actors in the movies).
Of course, it was impossible to close our eyes and miss a second of the passionate conducting of Arturo Díez Boscovich or the great interpretation of the OFM and Daniel Casares. The texts were interspersed or sometimes overlapping with music, to narrate with words and musical notes the journey of Don Quixote, from the madness of life, to the sanity of death.
In each segment, the composition evoked the epic greatness of the hero, the rough but faithful personality of Sancho, the riding against windmills, the painful madness or the love of Dulcinea, with references to film composers such as Miklós Rósza, John Williams, Basil Poledouris or Spanish classical music such as Falla or Rodrigo. However, thanks to Boscovich’s mastery, these references or tributes that are born of admiration, become a unique and unequaled work that nothing would have to envy those great music masters.
This original experience culminated in a standing ovation from the audience. As a climax, and demonstrating that film music DNA of Arturo, the OFM performed the “Malaga Soundtrack” that Boscovich composed in 2015 for the 18th edition of the “Malaga Festival. Spanish Cinema” as commissioned by one of its sponsors, and which, like the rest of the pieces, was also an absolute premiere live.
An exciting and unique concert and a privilege to have such great artists gathered around the figure of Don Quixote. An idea at the height of the great dreams and ideals of the character immortalized by Cervantes, and that we hope it’s only the beginning since it has shown us that, in the theater and music scene, there is still much to say.
Article by Reme Díaz
