CONDUCTING DOUBLE DUTY
RUBEN VALENZUELA LEADS OPENING CONCERTS FOR BACH COLLEGIUM, LA JOLLA SYMPHONY
Two prestigious San Diego music ensembles begin their seasons on back-toback weekends this month. Bach Collegium San Diego founder and artistic director Ruben Valenzuela will not only lead his ensemble’s 20th season-opening concert this weekend, he also will guest-conduct the first concerts of the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus’ 34th season the following weekend.
“I’ll be tired!” predicted Valenzuela, who served as the La Jolla Symphony’s chorus conductor for a short while before the pandemic scuttled that plan.
“The symphony graciously approached me about guest-conducting last spring since I didn’t actually conduct while working with them.”
Today and Saturday, Valenzuela will conduct the collegium’s “Blow by Blow” concerts at, respectively, Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church and All Souls’ Episcopal Church.
He’ll also be at the podium for the La Jolla Symphony’s chorus-free “Powerful Nature” concerts at the University of California San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium next weekend. Along with Beethoven’s Sixth, the program includes the spirited Joan Tower composition “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman #6.”
Arian Khaefi, the chorus’s new director, explained that — because of the pandemic and because Steven Schick, the symphony’s longtime director, stepped down and is now music director emeritus — this is a period of transition.
“We are in a period of change, of growth, of coming out of turmoil and uncertainty caused by forces out of our control,” Khaefi said. “Our season opens explosively with Tower’s work, which is unfixed, openended, and looks beyond into the possibilities of what is to come.”
Also on the program is a piano concerto by famed Mexican composer Carlos Chávez.
Schick, who curated the 2022-23 season, described the concerto via email.
“The piece is fascinating, with a piano part that is fistfuls of notes and an orchestra accompaniment that weaves mid-century textures with strands of Mexican rhythms and harmonies,” Schick said. “Because it will be played by Kyle Adam Blair, who as a pianist melds virtuosity with refinement, it will be the ultimate package.”
Valenzuela notes that Blair is especially eager to play the piece, which was scheduled and canceled twice because of the pandemic.
Twenty-something
Tonight, Valenzuela launches Bach Collegium San Diego’s “Twenty-something Twentieth Season.”
“Along the past 20 years or so, I never noticed an official beginning,” he explained. “Hence, the ‘Something.’ ”
This weekend’s repertoire features the work of John Blow, a little-known contemporary of Henry Purcell, the more famous 17th-century English composer. Blow mentored Purcell, who wrote the opera “Dido & Aeneas.”
“John Blow has all the trademarks and traits that Purcell has,” said Valenzuela, who added that Purcell’s music was heard at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September.
“Both were Westminster Abbey organists. Both composers’ work is undeniably unique and English. But French traits of the day creep into the music. It is unlike anything else in that century.”
The first piece, “Masque:
Venus & Adonis,” is one of the earliest English operas. The program concludes with Blow’s rarely played “Ode: Ye Sons of Phoebus.”
“This piece has been lost in history,” Valenzuela said. “There’s no recording of it. I wouldn’t put my life on it, but I would imagine this is its American premiere.”
The four noted soloists for the concert are soprano Sherezade Panthaki, mezzosoprano Kristen DubenionSmith, countertenor Jay Carter and baritone John Buffett.
In this “Twenty-something” season, Bach Collegium San Diego will present four main productions and its popular “Bach at Noon” series. Its first commercial recording, featuring music by Bach and Handel, is due out soon.
Throughout the season, Valenzuela may sprinkle a “thank you” here and there.
“There are people I want to thank,” he said. “People without whom we would have (disappeared) early on — people who are very central to not only believing in the institution but being supportive the entire time.”