Tuesday evenings at Caixaforum have a reputation for serving up musical offerings that are somewhat out of the ordinary, and this Tuesday is no exception. Surel, Segal & Gubitsch are, respectively, Sebastien (violin), Vincent (cello) and Tómas (electric guitar).
Born in 1957, Tómas, from Buenos Aires, was something of a phenomenon in his native Argentina by the time he had reached the age of 17. He was playing concerts with audiences of up to 12,000. Rock, tango, jazz, world - he became involved with all manner of genres before becoming an orchestral composer as well and playing with orchestra soloists from Japan, Sweden, France and elsewhere.
In 2014, he formed what is described as an “unclassifiable” trio with Sebastien and Vincent. Theirs is a combination that is marked as much by what they have in common musically as by their differences. The repertoire moves, for example, from Charlie Chaplin to Thelonius Monk, and includes their own highly innovative compositions.
Tuesday, 7pm, Caixaforum, Plaça Weyler 3, Palma.
The Moscow Ballet return to Palma
The Moscow Ballet are regular visitors to Palma. The pandemic having disrupted their touring, they are now back as part of their #DanceAgainTour 2021.
The company was founded in 1983 by Timur Fayziev, a graduate of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. He studied the Stanislavski Technique, which was to be developed in the US as method acting. Konstantin Stanislavski’s technique was to enable actors to cultivate the “art of experiencing” in getting inside and understanding their characters.
Fayziev has used this with his ballet productions. Dancers, he says, should feel a “maze of sensations” on stage, with everything flowing “magically and where communication with the audience is achieved”.
The Moscow Ballet return with ‘Swan Lake’ and the music of Tchaikovsky, “the most admired composer of ballet music in the classical tradition who ever lived”.
Fira B! is the professional market for music and performing arts in the Balearic Islands. The market element has to do with conferences and networking for artists. For the public, it means concerts and many of them from Thursday to Sunday.
These concerts showcase Mallorca’s indie music in particular, but they also take in jazz and folk. The line-ups offer a remarkable opportunity to see some of these acts on the same bill. The individual concerts are only short, which can mean as many as fourteen acts at different venues.
Things get under way on Thursday at Es Baluard and the Xesc Forteza theatre. The line-up at Es Baluard, for instance, includes two of the island’s very top indie bands - Salvatge Cor and The Prussians. At Xesc Forteza, the final act is Jansky, whose electronica is causing a stir away from Mallorca.
A particular word for the closing act on Friday at Xesc Forteza - the Voodoo Children Collective, led by Majorcan composer Toni Vaquer, who composed a number of songs during the lockdown in spring last year which the collective will be performing.
Thursday, from 4pm, Es Baluard (Plaça Porta Santa Catalina); from 4.15pm, Teatre Xesc Forteza, Plaça Miquel Maura.
Fiesta of Light
Thursday is the feast of Saint Martin, a day when, if you get up early enough, you can witness something rather special. The Fiesta of Light happens two times a year; the other occasion is Candlemas, 2 February, the same number of days after the Winter Solstice as Thursday’s event is before it.
Palma Cathedral’s eastern rose window is the largest of Gothic design anywhere in the world. Known as the Gothic eye, it is almost 14 metres in diameter with 24 triangles and over 1,000 glass pieces.
On these two days a year, the positioning of the window allows morning sunlight to pass through the giant eastern window and form a reflection below its smaller western counterpart.
This remarkable light show doesn’t happen by accident. It is the result of mathematical design from centuries ago which creates the appearance of the figure 8 being formed by the “double rosette” of the western window and the reflected eastern window.
And so, from around 8 in the morning, the 8 is created, which means a union, that of the material and the spiritual worlds.
Classical also has a place on the Fira B! programme. The Balearic Symphony Orchestra has a reputation for expanding its repertoire beyond the traditional, and its Ensemble Illes Sonores specialises in contemporary works from this century and the last.
Martin Matalon is an Argentine composer who is the recipient, among other things, of the Prix de l’Institut de France Académie des Beaux Arts. In 1993, he was commissioned to write the soundtrack to the restored version of Fritz Lang’s classic 1927 silent science-fiction film, ‘Metropolis’. He subsequently wrote new scores for films by the surrealist Luis Buñuel. But it is ‘Metropolis’ that is being highlighted by Fira B!, and Martin Matalon will be conducting the Ensemble Illes Sonores performance.
Saturday, 9.30pm, House of Son Amar, Palmanyola.
Pollensa’s autumn fair
While the island waits for the biggest fair of the year - Inca’s Dijous Bo on November 18 - Pollensa holds its autumn fair.
This is a fair which fell into the doldrums partly because of all the fair activity in Inca. It was also felt that it lacked direction, and so a few years ago it was given a new focus. The artisans fair sounds as if this is similar to many others, but the emphasis in Pollensa has been on leading-edge artisan design.
Traditional artisan craft is not overlooked and nor is music. There will be various concerts over the weekend plus giants and folk dance. Things will come to a close with folk dance for all at 6pm on Sunday. On Saturday evening, local food will be highlighted, and this means lamb, for which Pollensa has a great reputation.
Saturday, from 11am; Sunday, from 10am. Sant Domingo, Plaça Major and other locations, Pollensa.
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