There are few of us that have not seen or know the songs from the classic musical “The Sound of Music” and last Saturday evening at the Claustre de Sant Francesc the sound of music filled the air as a full capacity audience at the Cloisters enjoyed a memorable Hollywood evening. Once again the Deia International Festival of Music excelled in it’s choice of artists and the star of the show looking so beautiful in the two dresses worn during the evening was indeed a true Hollywood star as Raquel Lojendio, such a versatile Soprano brought us the songs of so many Hollywood musical classics.
Not only that we had Alfredo Oyaguez showing his magical talents on the piano. The Director of the Festival was also a star himself bringing us wonderful notes and even some singing in some of the hits of the evening. A combination that worked so well with charisma, energy, fun and bringing all of us into the evening of movie musical classics. Alfredo, so talented and dressed in black moved to the music notes which Raquel clearly loved as it was a tandem of musical magic. Raquel studied in her native City of Santa Cruz de Tenerife before moving on to the Conservatorio Superior of Music del Liceo in Barcelona working with the famous Carmen Bustamente. Raquel is a Soprano excellence and has performed with the BBC Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, concerts in Berlin, Hamburg, Bergen and Dresden and with all the major Spanish Orchestra’s also working with famous conductors such as Sir Neville Mariner and others. What a repertoire, Bach, Mozart, Verdi and Stravinsky amongst others whose opera she loves to sing. She has sung all and played in Opera roles such as Pamina ( The Magic Flute ) Violetta in La Traviata. So many concerts.
With recordings for major labels, you can find her CD’s and her recordings online. Her other passion is ballet gaining qualification from the Royal Academy of Dance in London. And so it was that we were privileged to have such a wonderful and superb Soprano visit Sineu having undertaken 3 other concerts at Palau March, in Palma, Son Morroig and Tianna Negre. A warm evening, a little breeze and songs from My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Mary Poppins, Gilda, Hello Dolly to name but a few. The stage was lit perfectly, the wonderful singing travelled to us all and songs in Spanish thrilled the audience. A short break, a return to the stage by Raquel in a stunning glittering dress and we were back into the films, but wait, the little break was taken up by who is one of the most famous Latin American pianists who played the piano like no other. It was the famous Chuchito Valdes, who I am sure many have heard of. He is playing a few concerts on the island and my next article will concentrate on Chuchito who plays at Tianna Negre on June 29th accompanied by 3 other artists. He is native Cuban but living in Cancun, Mexico lively music played by a true master of the piano. The audience stood as he played for 5 minutes during the break and I am so looking forward to his concert. Chuchito is from a famous musical family so do check him out.
Alfredo returned to the stage with Raquel and those musical film classics continued and “The way we were” was sung with such emotion but the evening as I have said before always has to come to an end but what an evening it was. A voice of a Soprano angel is so powerful for some songs, so passionate and emotional in others. A perfect combination and well-chosen songs from musicals we have all surely seen and know. I had to buy the CD P’ra Voce after the show on offer on the lbs classical label with Chicky Martin on piano. My car will be resounding to the beautiful voice of Raquel Lojendio. Please check out her recordings.
I was the lucky one as I had a great chat before and after the show with Raquel and Chuchito. He is here now but sadly Raquel was returning to Madrid the following day where she now lives but vows to be back. We surely want her to return and I am sure she will. So another Festival concert ended but many more to come created by Alfredo Oyaguez. Well done to all and Celebrity will bring you more articles on this iconic Festival and just a reminder. The Festival continues until September 29th so do not miss out and check all the concerts to come on www.dimf.com and not to be missed is Giles Apap, playing violin with the theme ” Fiddlin around the World” Check the Festival website for details. Celebrity magazine brings you so much and each monthly digital issue is to be found with articles and more on www.celebritymallorca.es Please do check out the number 1one magazine in Mallorca and contact us at any time with ideas, feedback and advertising.
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David Whitney
Thanks also to my friend Toni on Palau March concert photos