Rafael Payare, music director of the San Diego Symphony.
“It’s not too often you hear the words rap or hip-hop when describing an operatic orchestral piece,” writes Beth Wood in Sunday’s (5/21) San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s even more rare that a film is created specifically for that piece of music and shown behind an orchestra. And it’s a first here for San Diego Symphony Music Director Rafael Payare to conduct ‘Cantata Criolla,’ a classic work from his native Venezuela that’s steeped in the country’s folkloric traditions. On Friday and Saturday, Payare will lead the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Master Chorale in the area debut of ‘Cantata Criolla’ at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park…. Almost every culture has at least one compelling good-versus-evil legend. For Venezuela, it’s the myth of the devil and the singing cowboy Florentino…. This … story was put to poetry by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba and set to music in the 1950s by composer Antonio Estévez. The new black-and-white film was created and directed by Alberto Arvelo, grandson of the poet…. Arvelo, an award-winning filmmaker, was asked by Payare to create a cinematic accompaniment for the symphony’s rendition of ‘Cantata Criolla.’ ” Also on the program are works by Fauré and Dukas.
