From left to right: Claudia Do Minh Ramos, Lorenzo Meseguer, Alberto Rosado and Marc Oliu Nieto. Photo coutersy of the Spanish Embassy

HÀ NỘI — Spanish musicians will take audiences on a vivid musical journey in Hà Nội, exploring how folklore and national identity have shaped European chamber music through a tightly crafted 60-minute programme.

Cellist Lorenzo Meseguer, violinist Marc Oliu Nieto, pianist Alberto Rosado and violist Claudia Do Minh Ramos will present a repertoire tracing the influence of folk traditions on the evolution of chamber works across Europe.

The concert opens with Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quartet No. 2, blending classical form with rhythms and melodic turns characteristic of Czech music, reflecting the composer’s lyricism and vitality.

It is followed by Joaquín Turina’s Piano Quartet, a synthesis of his Parisian training and Andalusian roots, widely regarded as one of the most representative works in the Spanish chamber repertoire.

The programme concludes with a tribute to Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) marking the 150th anniversary of his birth. It features selections from El Amor Brujo, including Pantomime and Ritual Fire Dance, which encapsulate his musical language as a fusion of popular tradition and modernity.

Widely regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the 20th century, Falla developed a strong interest in native Spanish music, particularly Andalusian flamenco, while studying with Felipe Pedrell in Madrid in the late 1890s.

From 1907 to 1914, he lived in Paris, where he met and was influenced by Ravel, Debussy and Dukas. Several of his key works are regularly performed worldwide and are often adapted for ballet and dance.

The character of southern Spanish music, especially flamenco and the Andalusian vocal tradition known as cante jondo, is central to his work. This influence is most evident in El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician, 1915), a dramatic narrative of Romani life originally conceived as a theatre piece for a flamenco singer, actors and chamber orchestra.

Taken together, the works in the programme highlight how Spanish composers, drawing on European traditions, entered a pivotal period in which their music gained international prominence while asserting a distinct identity.

The concert will take place at 8pm on May 7 at St Joseph's Cathedral of Hà Nội, 40 Nhà Chung Street.

Meseguer has received numerous awards in international competitions, including the Liezen International Cello Competition and the Florián de Ocampo National Cello Competition. A Festclásica Emerging Ensemble Prize winner, he performs regularly at major venues across Europe and plays a Richard Duke cello made in London in 1770.

Nieto is a prizewinner of the El Primer Palau Competition and has appeared in major concert series and festivals, including those of the Fundación Juan March and the Cuenca Religious Music Week.

Rosado has been invited as a guest professor at institutions in Chile and Mexico and currently serves as Professor of Chamber Music and Contemporary Piano at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León.

Ramos, an active chamber musician, has participated in international festivals, including the Prades Casals Festival and the Banff Centre, collaborating with ensembles such as the Kronos and Borromeo String Quartets. She is currently Professor of Viola at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castilla y León and at the Centro Superior de Música Katarina Gurska in Madrid.

The musicians will also perform at the Việt Nam National Academy of Music on May 9, alongside masterclasses and exchange activities with students.

The free concert is jointly organised by the Spanish Embassy and Hà Nội Cathedral. — VNS