Concert music and sonera tradition merged in the Nezahualcóyotl hall

The Philharmonic Orchestra of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Ofunam), under the baton of guest conductor Iván López Reynoso, as well as the groups Los Descarados, Celso Duarte Ensamble and Caña Dulce y Caña Brava, offered a concert this weekend with Huastec, Jarocho and Oaxacan sounds to celebrate its 90th anniversary in the Nezahualcóyotl hall of the University Cultural Center.

“Having these three groups, undisputed ambassadors of our sound tradition, talk to me seems like a great success,” said López Reynoso. The recital offered a rare event: the fusion of two musical worlds that rarely share the stage on equal terms.

The director, who currently leads Mary Stuart at the Bilbao Opera, was summoned in the middle of last year to join the project in its final stage of preparation. The process, López said, “has been a slow burn: gathering the groups’ agendas, commissioning the orchestral arrangements and fine-tuning the logistical details of a program that involves four arrangers (Aneiro Taño, Mario Santos, Juan Duarte and Rosino Serrano), who worked closely with each group to define colors, dynamics and the delicate balance between the groups and the orchestra.

“The skeleton of the arrangements implies a deep respect for the piece and its style, because orchestrating with the rhythm of Son Jarocho is not the same as with Huasteco.”

The challenge, achieving balance

The director stressed that the biggest challenge is balance: that no one covers anyone, that each voice has its role in the dialogue. Regarding the nature of the son, López Reynoso pointed out the alternation of the binary and ternary rhythm – what is known in music as sesquiáltero – as the backbone that regional styles share; He commented that the copla and the verse have a leading role that defines the character of this music: sometimes ironic, sometimes melancholic and always surprising.

The harp, added the director, had a leading role in this program: it showed how that instrument, which came from Europe, took root in Mexico until creating a tone that was absolutely its own. “This miscegenation was reflected in the creation of a new identity. We made it very ours,” said López Reynoso, who evoked the harp solos in the Huapango, of Moncayo, as one of the highest fruits of that transformation.

Platform, coexistence space

The person who knows that instrument very well from the inside is Adriana Cao, harpist and founder of Caña Dulce and Caña Brava. “I am excited that traditional music reaches spaces like Nezahualcóyotl,” said Adriana when talking about the concert.

Her connection with son jarocho began in the port of Veracruz, where her father, from Oaxaca, organized zapateado classes for his seven daughters. It was the musician Pánfilo Valerio who, taking his children to play as a trio, made up of harp, jarana and requinto, lit in Adriana the spark that has not gone out.

Cao places the fandango, the community party around the stage, as the primary space of music in southern Veracruz: a gathering that can celebrate anything from a wedding to a funeral, and in which musicians and dancers coexist at the same level.

Regarding the harp, he maintained that “it is an instrument that captivates, that is beautiful,” and said that what fascinates him most is the physical proximity to it: the harp rests on the shoulder, between the body, and the sound resonates very close to the performer.

Caña Dulce y Caña Brava was born 19 years ago from the union of Adriana with Raquel Palacios Vega, granddaughter of the legendary requintero of the Mono Blanco Group, Andrés Vega. Today the group is made up of Adriana Cao, Raquel Palacios, Violeta Romero Granados and Anna Arismendez, with the Michoacan violinist Ulises Martínez as a permanent guest. Its musical proposal incorporates the knowledge of poets such as Evelin Acosta and the late Citlaly Malpica, as well as admired male voices, such as that of Patricio Hidalgo.

In the program, which was presented this weekend at the Nezahualcóyotl room (Insurgentes Sur 3000, Ciudad Universitaria), the group Los Descarados (Nabani Aguilar, Obed Calixto and Ángel Aparicio) began with huasteco son, including emblematic pieces, such as The three huastecas y The Hidalgo native, by Nicandro Castillo.

In the second part, Celso Duarte Ensamble (harpist and composer Celso Duarte, Violeta Ortega Espinoza, Sergio Medrano and Iñaki Duarte) presented a medley from Oaxaca that included The crybaby y Pinotepa.

The concert closes with Caña Dulce and Caña Brava, and a selection of Jarocho sones, such as The witch y The bamba.