Mezzo-soprano Fanny Lora and classical guitarist Dave McLellan will perform “Españolería—A Spanish Song Experience” Saturday, May 11, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Fivesparks. The artists, both of whom have toured nationally and internationally, will start the concert by playing and singing part of one of the songs on the program to introduce the audience to some of the characteristics of classical Spanish music. Lora has written a brief English summary of each song’s story, listed in the printed program. McLellan and Lora hope the concert will bring the audience a sense of the unique classical musical traditions of Spain and an understanding of the diverse culture of the country itself.
Harvard resident McLellan has given previous concerts at Fivesparks and for more than 10 years has been offering “A Concert in Your Living Room,” where he gives a free performance to a small group of people for a charitable cause. He met Lora when they were both teaching at the Performing Arts Center of Metrowest in Framingham. They were working on this program in 2019 and were set to perform it when the pandemic hit. Making up for lost time, they have been performing the program since last November, and the Fivesparks concert will be their 10th.
Dave McLellan and mezzo-soprano Fanny Lora perform at a previous concert in Holliston. (Courtesy photo)
Lora, who lives in Holliston and is the mother of two young children, was born in the Dominican Republic and came to the United States as a teenager. She said her earliest memories of singing go back to when she was 7 or 8 and performed in a children’s TV show. She was chosen as a soloist for her first Communion, and after that she sang in choirs. She was able to convince her parents to let her take advantage of an opportunity to study in the states, and she finished her last two years of high school at a school of music and performing arts in New York state, going on to receive music performance and music education degrees from Ithaca College. She created a Spanish repertoire of things she was familiar with. “When I sang in Spanish, I felt the music more deeply,” she said.
A defining experience for Lora was going to Valencia, Spain, with the Boston Conservatory opera summer program. Students had to do a performance where they read a poem and then sang it. Lora was the only one to have memorized her poem. She said it was empowering; she felt the drama in the Spanish culture and understood the nuances of the music. She described Spanish music as “evocative, sensual, with a sense of dance.” Then she added, “And it’s witty.” To explain that last descriptor she said that in one of the songs from the first set on the program, when she finishes singing, there are a few more notes on the guitar, an echo of a phrase she had sung, as if to teasingly have the “last word.” McLellan said it’s like the guitar is a character in the story.
The artists talked about the three composers on the program: Joaquin Rodrigo, who died in 1999; Federico Garcia Lorca, widely acknowledged as Spain’s greatest poet, who was assassinated by fascists in 1936; and Manuel de Falla, who died in 1946; his works are, said McLellan, “the most substantial musically.” Lorca and de Falla knew each other, and their songs are traditional folk songs that they set to classical styles with arrangements for voice and piano, not guitar. McLellan’s conjecture is that they chose piano as the most prestigious instrument, one that would make their music widely known. At that time folk guitar players were ubiquitous, and the guitar was considered a “second-class” instrument. It was only later that guitarists arranged the music of Lorca and de Falla, Andres Segovia having brought more respect for the instrument.
Rodrigo, who was blind from age 3, was a protege of de Falla, and his songs are newer material. Lora said it is a kind of legend that once at an important musical event, de Falla insisted that Rodrigo, not he, be recognized, saying to him, “You write really well for the guitar.” Lora told the story of how Rodrigo’s 82-year-old daughter had contacted her recently, saying she had heard her father’s songs would be sung by Lora at a program in Boston and thanking her. “It energized me to know it matters,” said Lora, and she quoted McLellan’s comment, “We are the messengers of this music.”
The ‘Spanishness’ of the music
In talking more about the music, particularly the “Spanishness” from the southern part of the country, McLellan said there is a preponderance of triple meter bars—strong, weak, weak—and rapid changes from three to two meter bars. And there are embellishments, musical flourishes. “Complicated flamenco; it’s part of why Spanish music is so alluring,” he said.
Lora said she loves how the Spanish classical folk songs are so very old and have been preserved for a long, long time. “And behind the music are the stories,” stories about ordinary people, with so many emotions. There’s Don Boys who went looking for a wife and found his long-lost sister; Adela, who lost her life to love; Paquiro the bullfighter; a little boy without a crib; Kota, whose would-be mother-in-law despises him. They are songs from every part of Spain, and they tell the intricacies of the culture. Lora said she “digs deep to bring forth the emotions” because of the affinity she feels for these people and the music.
The concert “Españolería” will be an immersive experience in music, song, and movement. “And,” McLellan said, “Fanny will have props to add flavor.”
The concert is $25 for adults; $15 for seniors and students. Tickets at fivesparks.org or at the door.
