By Signe Hammer
Pro Musica audiences will love this three-concert weekend featuring a solo piano recital by San Miguel favorite Ilya Yakushev on Thursday, February 2, and introducing the brilliant cellist Thomas Mesa playing with Yakushev in two cello-and-piano concerts, Friday, February 3, and Sunday, February 5, all at 5pm in St. Paul’s Church.
Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa is one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging players of his generation. He has won both the 2023 Sphinx Medal of Excellence and first prize in the 2016 Sphinx Competition, and he has appeared as soloist with, among others, the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras and the LA Philharmonic. He has toured with Itzhak Perlman and plays a cello made by Guilio Gigli, c.1789, “magnificently.” (NY Times)
His debut in San Miguel is part of a 30-venue tour with Yakushev, who has four times wowed our audiences with his solo piano recitals. With his fabulous technique, Yakushev has mesmerized audiences at major venues on three continents including Carnegie Hall and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. He has won multiple prizes, most recently the prestigious Gawon International Music Society’s Award in Seoul, Korea. “Yakushev is one of the very best young pianists,” says American Record Guide. Plus, as we well know, he engages effortlessly with audiences.
On Thursday, February 2, Yakushev plays solo piano: Mozart’s “Fantasia No. 3” moves from somber to playful. Beethoven, strongly affected by Shakespeare, had his “Sonata in D minor” posthumously named «Tempest.” Chopin’s “Polonaise in A-flat major” was dubbed “Heroic” by his lover, novelist George Sand (aka Aurore Dupin). Bizet’s “Nocturne in D major” sounds like Chopin, the form’s popularizer. Yakushev concludes with Schumann’s “Carnaval,” whose 20 sections burst with references to his former fiancée, his wife, friends and commedia dell’arte characters.
On Friday, February 3, Mesa and Yakushev start with Bach’s “Sonata No.3,” originally written for viola de gamba. In Schumann’s “Selections from Five Pieces in Folk Style,” the piano is first among equal partners. Debussy dedicated his “Cello and Piano Sonata” to his wife; his early “Beau Soir” sets a poem to music. Beethoven’s “Cello Sonata No. 3” has been described as the first to treat cello and piano equally. We’ll also hear works by Kapustin, Casarrubios, and Lili Boulanger, Nadia’s short-lived younger sister.
Sunday, February 5, opens with selections from Bach’s Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello; the Six Suites are an artistic landmark in cello literature. Massenet’s “Meditation” is an orchestral intermezzo in his opera, “Thaïs.” In Rachmaninoff’s “Cello Sonata,” cello and piano are fully equal partners. We’ll also hear “Spanish Suite” by Joaquín Nin, father of the writer Anaïs Nin, and “Cello Sonata No. 1” by Kevin Day, son of a hip-hop producer and a gospel singer.
Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are 200, 400, and 600 pesos donation each and are on sale through our website and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time. Details of all Pro Musica’s concerts and Patron Membership are on our website, www.promusicasma.org, or contact us at promusicasma@aol.com.
Concert
“Pro Musica Concert Series”
Thomas Mesa, Cello; Ilya Yakushev, Piano
Thur., Feb. 2, Fri., Feb 3, and Sun., Feb 5, 5pm
St. Paul’s Church, calle Cardo
Tickets 300, 500, 750 pesos
