BEÑAT EGIARTE & JOSEP BUFORN: MÉLODIES DU PAYS BASQUE

The tenor Beñat Egiarte and the pianist Josep Buforn propose a journey through Basque culture with three composers. The first part of the program focuses on the most internationally renowned Basque composer: Maurice Ravel. The genius from Ziburu spent his life in Paris but never ceased to return to his homeland. From his sublime work, they have selected his masterpiece “Shéhérazade,” written for Mezzo-soprano or Tenor, but which is rarely heard in a male voice. The part is completed with Jeux d’eau: a piano piece of undeniable beauty, and finally with his collection of folk songs, which besides being beautiful, have the peculiarity of having texts in minority languages such as Galician, Occitan, Neapolitan, and Yiddish.

The second part begins with the 7 Lieder in Basque by Pablo Sorozabal. The composer from San Sebastián translated poems by Heinrich Heine and set them to music, creating a unique work, in the style of German Lieder cycles. To conclude, they will perform a work by the celebrated French composer Joseph Canteloube. Internationally known for his “Chants d’Auvergne,” he left a lesser-known cycle: “Chants des Pays Basques,” where, starting from Basque folk songs, he creates a cycle of great spectacularity for piano and voice, being one of the few non-Basque composers, if not the only one, who wrote in Basque.