Beyond the Score: Falla in the South of Spain

Designed for newcomers to classical music and longtime aficionados alike, each Beyond the Score program takes you on a dramatic exploration of a composer’s music.

Passionately loyal to his ancestral roots in the far south of Spain, Manuel de Falla spent nearly 20 of the most intense years of his composing life in the beautiful and historic city of Granada in Andalusia.

What so powerfully drew him there was the richly diverse culture of this ancient world, with its exotic blend of Islamic, Christian, Jewish and Romany traditions; its fabulous architecture and landscapes; and most of all, the unforgettably heart-rending and world famous music of flamenco—its sensual dancing, strummed guitars and “deep song,” the cante jondo, which Falla himself called the purest and oldest of all the different forms of gypsy music.

From such stunningly beautiful material, Falla created his own timeless world, a dream-like Spain of hot and perfumed nights, tragic passions and dark incantations. With live actors, stunning visual projections and musical excerpts played by the CSO, the compelling story of the composer’s life and art unfolds, illuminating the world that shaped the work’s creation.

Program

• Falla Suite No. 1 from The Three-Cornered Hat
• Falla Nights in the Gardens of Spain
• Falla Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat

Performers

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Charles Dutoit, conductor
• Javier Perianes, piano
• Gerard McBurney, creative director

All ticketholders are invited to a post-concert Q&A with Beyond the Score Creative Director Gerard McBurney and special guests.