The Museo Picasso Málaga Auditorium is hosting a new recital dedicated to Picasso next Tuesday, April 18, at 8 p.m. as part of the 16th Series of Chamber Music Concerts. The programme is linked to the artist’s oeuvre and will be performed by Austri Musici. This concert is part of the Picasso Celebration 1973–2023, a programme of exhibitions and cultural activities launched jointly by the Spanish and French governments to commemorate the anniversary of the artist’s death.

The first part of the concert will be dedicated to Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), one of the most significant twentieth-century musicians. It begins with Pour Pablo, a piece for clarinet written for Pablo Picasso, whom he met in Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1917, shortly before the First World War. The musician sketched the five bars of music for this piece on a hotel telegram in an evident attempt to capture the essence of his friend’s Cubist art. He used complicated rhythms and also turned the telegram on its side to make the horizontal lines vertical, presenting a new and surprising perspective on a familiar object, while at the same time physically cutting his music. It is followed by Trois pièces pour clarinet (Three Pieces for Clarinet), published in 1919 as a thank-you gift for philanthropist and patron of the arts Werner Reinhart, himself an amateur clarinettist. This part focusing on Stravinsky ends with his L’Histoire du soldat (The Soldier’s Tale, a suite from 1919), a piece based on a Russian folk tale about a soldier named Joseph. On his way home, he meets the devil, who tricks him into giving him his violin (which represents his soul) in exchange for a book that has the virtue of predicting the future.

The second part of the recital is dedicated to Andalusian composers Joaquín Turina (1882–1949) and Manuel de Falla (1876–1946), both of whom are representatives of musical nationalism and whose compositions are among the most important Impressionist pieces in Spain. Turina’s Serenata para cuarteto de cuerda, op. 87 (Serenade for String Quartet), written by the Sevillian for two violins, viola, and cello during the summer of 1934 on the beach of Suances (Santander), will be performed first, followed by La oración del torero, op. 34* (The Bullfighter’s Prayer), for which Turina was inspired by the sight of a bullfighter praying in a chapel near the bullring before going into the arena. Turina wrote these two pieces ‘so that they would form a pair, exactly as if they were two candelabras or two vases’, as he explained in an interview. The event ends with Falla’s El amor brujo** (Love Bewitched), in a version for sextet, a piece initially conceived by the Cádiz-born composer as a ballet dedicated to dancer and singer Pastora Imperio. It has a pronounced folk flavour, steeped in musical and literary elements originating from Andalusian gypsy music and literature.

Austri Musici is made up of Cecilia Blanes and Lucía Barrero (violins), Razvan Cociodar (viola), Carlos Puerto (violoncello), Claudia Albuixech (double bass), Martín Blanes (clarinet) and Juan Ignacio Fernández (piano).

Programme

I
Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971)
Pour Pablo Picasso, for clarinet
Trois pièces pour clarinette
L’Histoire du soldat (suite from 1919)

II
Joaquín Turina (1882 – 1949)
Serenata para cuarteto de cuerda, op. 87
La oración del torero, op. 34*

Manuel de Falla (1876 – 1946)
El amor brujo**

*Version for string quartet.
** Version for sextet.

Austri Musici
Violins: Cecilia Blanes and Lucía Barrero
Viola: Razvan Cociodar
Violoncello: Carlos Puerto
Double bass: Claudia Albuixech
Clarinet: Martín Blanes
Piano: Juan Ignacio Fernández

Flat rate: €12
Las entradas de todos los conciertos del XVI Ciclo de Música de Cámara de la Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, con una tarifa única de 12 euros, pueden adquirirse en las taquillas del Museo y en la web www.museopicassomalaga.org

Programme of the 16th OFM Chamber Music Series

MPM Auditorium, 8.00 p.m.
Tue Apr 18, 2023. Austri Musici
Tue May 2, 2023. Quinteto Mainake (PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DATE HAS CHANGED: initially scheduled for May 9*) Tue Jun 6, 2023. Grupo Harmoniemusik Málaga

Flat rate: €12
Tickets for all the concerts belonging to the 16th Series of Chamber Music of the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra, at a flat rate of €12, are available from the Museum’s ticket office and from the website www.museopicassomalaga.org

*Change of date for the Quinteto Mainake concert
The Museo Picasso Málaga wishes to inform you that the concert performed by the Quinteto Mainake as part of the 16th Chamber Music Series, originally scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, 2023, has been moved forward to Tuesday, May 2. Tickets already acquired for this concert will be valid for the new date, though spectators who purchased their tickets online and no longer wish to attend or are unable to do so can request a refund at the following email address: reservas@mpicassom.org. We apologise for the inconvenience.