Habana Clásica: If It Weren't for Music

November 22, 2023

The festival's inauguration was marked by a repertoire largely featuring premieres in Cuba, spanning from compositions of the late Romantic period by the prolific French composer Mel Bonis, scarcely known in our concert halls, to the virtuosity of Cuban master José María Vitier.

If it weren't for music, there would be more reasons to go mad, and since no city can achieve clarity without sounds, once again the Minor Basilica of the Convent of San Francisco de Asís is complicit in the spell and beauty deployed by the Habana Clásica Festival, which this year arrives at its fifth edition, to the delight of those of us who eagerly await the curtains of silence to rise.

On this occasion, the festival's organizing team, under the artistic direction of Marcos Madrigal and general production by Lorenzo Suárez, opens a window for us to unexplored sonic universes in Havana's venues. If in the last edition it was German, Dutch, Swedish, and Italian violins, flutes, and cellos that set the tone, this time we will surely be captivated by sounds arriving from the lands of the rising and setting sun: the Mashrek and the Maghreb, all the way to the legendary cradle of griots in the heart of Mali. Beyond European academicism, there is still too much beauty to discover, stories that place us on the path of ancestral peoples and cultures. A true classical music festival should be the thermometer of all voices, something that in this edition begins to manifest itself.

The festival's inauguration was marked by a repertoire largely featuring premieres in Cuba, spanning from compositions of the late Romantic period by the prolific French composer Mel Bonis, scarcely known in our concert halls, to the virtuosity of Cuban master José María Vitier. Moreover, it has brought to the stage the talent of two indispensable figures in the current landscape of contemporary music: the Lebanese violin of Layale Chaker and the Syrian clarinet of Kinan Azmeh. Narrating a concert carries a certain perversity for those who couldn't taste it or those who, though present, remained oblivious to certain details. The hall is packed; it is an anticipated restart for this festival.

As night falls over the city, the flute begins a flight that the piano and violin sustain; it cannot be otherwise at an event dedicated to master Ondina. The Suite in Trio, Op. 59 floods everything. Three virtuoso interpreters from our land display their craft. Niurka González on the flute, Lissy Abreu on the violin, and Marcos Madrigal on the piano, build a bridge of chords, while Malva Rodríguez turns the pages. Some close their eyes to listen better, others try to capture the moment with their phones. After the Scherzo, applause returns.

The Beatitudes are heard. It is not the first time that Niurka and Marcos have performed these chords together, but it seems like a complete discovery. Small pieces, verses of hope and unease that Vitier has composed during the months of confinement, yet today they overwhelm us with diverse meanings. Niurka smiles and furrows her brow, without stopping playing; it is always a pleasure to see her master the instrument with her superb talent. There is a perfect marriage between the flute and the piano.

"Bravo," is the word the audience shouts from their seats, with a bundle of conflicting sensitivities. Amid the ovations, someone takes the stage to arrange the elements. Certain percussion instruments capture our attention: a djembe. For many, this repertoire is merely a passage to revisit in some film; for others, a dream come true—the possibility of hearing it in this city, in a concert hall. The ear is educated, but intuitions belong to the soul.

Layale Chaker takes the stage. It is her first time in Havana. Before playing, she speaks to the audience in perfect English. From the debut album of this young violinist and composer, born from the hustle of travels between Beirut, Paris, and London, and recorded in 2018 in New York, the Suite from Inner Rhyme reveals to the audience a fabric of sounds that explores the aesthetics of Arabic poetry, a space where the atavistic and spiritual merge. Her violin wounds the silence, as if drawing back the thread of an ancient story; hers is the prominence of the first moment. The bow, in her gesture, translates to us the vernacular and modern forms, the testimonies of life, the darkness and lights that emerge from the metrics of her land. Those of us who listen are embraced by nostalgia. Freshness and mastery in Layale's hands as she invokes each phrase.

In moments of silence, the tolling of bells is heard in the distance. After all, we are in a sacred place. Applause returns and the musicians enter again. When some begin to wonder if the evening's last guest artist is running late, we discover a peculiar sound at the back of the hall. It is inevitable that we turn to inquire, curiously with our eyes, at the Syrian clarinet advancing toward us. He comes from behind, with a humble and enthusiastic gesture, as if greeting the abundant audience gathered tonight to receive him.

139th Street from the Suite for Improvisor & Orchestra is heard. Those sounds he perceives, or imagines, in the early mornings in his neighborhood, return. What a privilege to hear the virtuoso Kinan Azmeh in Havana. Swarm-like sounds, exquisite mixture with percussion and strings. The atmosphere in crescendo. In our ears, brushstrokes of classical music, jazz, and the soul of Damascus combine. The Syrian clarinetist is a poet; he opens doors from within, seduces us between respect and daring. The instruments feed each other in an infrastructure of rhythms that seems to take hold of our flesh. There is a journey in the most authentic sense; we are conscious of our own mortality and our soil ceases to have borders.

The mastery with which the Cuban musicians perform the repertoire must be noted in this confluence. No one would suspect that only a few hours of rehearsal have produced the magic. Lissy Abreu Ruiz (violin), Alejandro Aguiar (percussion), Raiza Valdés Ortega (viola), Amaya Justiz Robert (cello), and Olivia Rodríguez (double bass) bring life to the pieces by Layale and Kinan. We see them flourish amidst each movement with an alliance that only music knows how to weave.

The event culminates with the audience on their feet, satisfied and hungry for more. The adventure begins again. The doors are open. It only remains for us to surrender to the magic of sound and see what worlds will cross its threshold. After all, experiencing music is about that—inhabiting its stories, its gestures, its sonic architectures, and watching with closed eyes the ecstasy of another.