Boléro: Rhythms of Spain

Live at the BBC Proms: Spanish National Orchestra, conducted by David Afkham, with guitarist Rafael Aguirre perform Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Ravel’s Boléro.

Presented by Petroc Trelawny, live from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Maurice Ravel: Alborada del gracioso
Manuel de Falla (orch. Francisco Coll): Fantasia baetica
Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

c.7:55pm
Interval: Theatre director and musicologist Jeremy Sams joins Petroc to explore the music of Manuel de Falla and the fascination of Spain in the imagination of French composers.

c.8.15pm
Manuel de Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat (Suites Nos. 1 & 2)
Maurice Ravel: Boléro

Rafael Aguirre (guitar)
Spanish National Orchestra
David Afkham (conductor)

The Spanish National Orchestra makes its Proms debut under Chief Conductor David Afkham, bringing with it a set of heat-soaked musical postcards. Spanish guitar phenomenon Rafael Aguirre joins the ensemble for Rodrigo’s much-loved Concierto de Aranjuez – an elegant, idealised vision of Spain’s past. The orchestra transforms itself into a giant guitar in two Ravel classics: the pulsing seguidilla serenade Alborada del gracioso and the hypnotic thrum of Boléro. The adventures of a miller, his beautiful young wife and an amorous magistrate become a vivid series of dances in music from Manuel de Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat.