With humble origins over sixty years ago, Wall Street Journal calls the Grand Teton Music Festival “one of the best places to hear classical music in the summer.” On July 19th, SOLI musicians Stephanie Key and David Mollenauer performed the world premier of Robert Xavier Rodriguez’ “Piñata para los amantes”, written specifically for this duo.
Rodriguez writes, “Piñata para los amantes” (2023) for Clarinet in Bb and Cello is the result of a commission from the San Antonio-based SOLI Chamber Ensemble. The two designated players, clarinetist Stephanie Key and David Mollenhauer, are a married couple. They spent their first date attending a performance of my opera Frida, based on the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, at the Houston Grand Opera in 1993. Since I wrote my orchestral overture Piñata (1991) as a study for Frida (1991), which was also in progress, I decided to arrange that overture as a virtuoso duo in tribute to these two performers.” The piece blends samba rhythms and Mexican folk songs, as well as American Jazz techniques. It excitedly depicts a swinging piñata where “after a bustling introduction… the excitement builds. There is a series of mighty [instrumental] whacks at the piñata, which eventually breaks open into a triumphant coda.”
The Grand Teton Music Festival features eight weeks of performances by a diverse array of musicians at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, WY, complete with six “Chamber Music Series” concerts. The duo performed on the “Chamber Music: Landscapes” concert, July 19th, 7:00pm.
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