A multi-media classical
concert collaboration
with The National Gallery
in the Time of
Goya
Music
A multi-media classical concert collaboration with The National Gallery in London
About
'Music in the Time of Goya' is a chamber-music concert curated by concert pianist, Helen Glaisher-Hernández, which premiered at The National Gallery's Barry Rooms in London on 27th November 2015 as part of the blockbuster exhibition, Goya: The Portraits. This landmark exhibition, curated by Dr Xavier Bray, brought together more than 50 0f Goya's most outstanding portraits from around the world, exploring the painter's innovative and unconventional approach to portraiture.
The programming for 'Music in the Time of Goya' takes its inspiration from the often-quoted description of Goya as 'the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Moderns', bringing to life both the elegant musical aesthetic of 18th-century Spain, and its intoxicating effect on later 19th and 20th-century composers influenced by Goya and the alluring Spanish cultural world evoked in his paintings. Alongside fiery fandangos, seguidillas and boleros the programme features well-known Classical favourites by Boccherini, Beethoven, Scarlatti and Sor, and numerous works by Goya's greatest Romantic musical champion, Enrique Granados, as well as sumptuous pieces by Falla, Obradors, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ravel and Baños.
The concert instrumentation comprises guitar, string quartet, soprano, piano (4 hands) and dancer-percussionist. Where projection is available, the concert can be presented against a back-drop of 21 stills featuring a selection of Goya's paintings. (See below.) The event is also available with an accompanying pre-concert talk on the musical and broader cultural contexts of Goya’s time.
Programme
Luigi Boccherini
Jacinto Valledor y la Calle
Fernando Sor
Ludwig van Beethoven
Fernando Sor
Domenico Scarlatti
Antonio Soler
Ludwig van Beethoven
Enrique Granados
Fernando Obradors
Manuel de Falla
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Roque Baños
Maurice Ravel
Luigi Boccherini
Quintet Op. 30, No. 6 (G324) ‘La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid’
La cantada vida y muerte del General Mambrú
Seguidillas
Songs of Various Nationalities
Three Waltzes Dedicated to Lady Jane and Lady Georgina Paget
Keyboard Sonata in D Major K492/L. 14/P. 443
Keyboard Sonata SR 108 'Del gallo'
Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor Op. 27, No. 2 ‘Moonlight’
Goyescas
Colección de tonadillas escritas en estilo antiguo
Canciones clásicas españolas
El sombrero de tres picos
24 Caprichos de Goya Op. 195
Goya en Burdeos
Boléro
Quintet No. 4 in D Major (G448)
Slides
Where projection is available, the concert can be presented against a back-drop of 21 slides featuring a stunning selection of Goya's artworks, each illuminating a different piece in the musical programme. Move your cursor over the images below to preview, or click through to see the pictures in full.
 La Duquesa de Alba |  El Duque de Alba |  El majo de la guitarra |
|---|---|---|
 El sueño de la razón produce monstru |  Los Duques de Osuna y sus hijos |  Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos |
 El ciego de la guitarra |  Fernando VII |  El vito |
 El tres de mayo |  La novillada |  El Duque de Wellington |
 El pelele |  El cantor ciego |  Autorretrato en el taller |
 La familia de Carlos IV |  El baile a orillas del Manzanares |  La maja vestida |
 La maja desnuda |  El amor y la muerte |  El quitasol |
Artists
Gallery
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Media
Telecinco (Spanish TV Channel 5)
Ainhoa Paredes
'A wonderful concert at the National Gallery in homage to Goya, thanks to these magnificent Spanish musicians.'
Derek Murray
'A captivating and highly entertaining concert. ...An exuberant programme, full of surprises and hidden treasures. ...To witness this unique coming together of art, music and dance of the highest order, surrounded by portraits from Goya’s time, was one of those devastaingly sublime concert experiences that will undoubtedly make normal future concert outings for me seem banal by comparison.'
Click here to read the review in full
Anabel Rodríguez Venzalá
'Un concierto sencillamente fascinante. ...Una atmósfera histórica inmejorable. ...En resumen, si hay una palabra para definir este acto, es “único”.'
In the Press
Curator
Helen Glaisher-Hernández
'A highly imaginative and experimental curator.' Music & Vision
A graduate of both Cambridge University and Trinity College of Music, Helen Glaisher-Hernández is a classical music event manager with 10 years' experience programming recitals, symposia, masterclasses and festivals across London's major venues, including the Southbank Centre (Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall), St John's Smith Square, Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James's Piccadilly, Olympia, Kings Place, Bolívar Hall and The National Gallery, amongst many others.
Clients and partners include the Naval and Military ('In & Out') Club, Canning House, the Canning Club, Anglo Arts, the Seville International Guitar Competition, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, City of Trujillo International Song Competition & Festival (Peru), London Lyric Arts, ¡Cómo No! (La Linea Festival), KAPA Productions, the Victoria and Joaquín Rodrigo Foundation and several London embassies. In addition to developing the London Classical Guitar Festival with the Venezuelan Embassy, Helen has co-produced a guitar series with the Cervantes Institute and the Sadler's Wells London Flamenco Festival.
Helen has been privileged to work with some of the most illustrious names in the classical music world, including John Williams, Southbank Sinfonia, Cecilia Rodrigo, Celso Machado, Carlos Fernández Aransay, José Menor, Jesús León, Marcelo Bratke, Fernando Espí, Paco Peña, Carlos Bonell, Morgan Szymanski, Onix, Douglas Riva, the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet, José Antonio Escobar, Nina Corti and Sting's co-writer and guitarist, Dominic Miller. At the same time, Helen has also been instrumental in providing a platform for young, emerging classical musicians, and in bringing leading artists from abroad to the UK that British concert-goers would otherwise not have the opportunity to hear live.
Through her work as an event manager, Helen has also gained extensive experience in marketing and PR. With a first degree in Spanish, Helen also maintains a special interest in Hispanic repertoire as Artistic Director of the Iberian & Latin American Music Society, with and a passion for vocal and chamber music more broadly.
How to Contact Us
'Music in the Time of Goya' was originally curated for the National Gallery in London, but we can also bring this event to your venue or festival. To discuss your requirements please email us at info@ilams.org.uk or use the box below to send us a message.
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