Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish Embassy present two shows at CCP

MANILA, Philippines - Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Spain present back-to-back cultural offerings at the Cultural Center of the Philippines this June titled “Sonidos de España: Spanish Festival at the CCP.”

Lovers of music and dance will be treated to live acts all the way from Spain starting off with “The Unending Passion of the Zarzuela” by Spanish tenor Enrique Viana and pianist Daniel Oyarzábal who will take the stage of the Little Theater on June 11 to be followed by flamenco dancer Eduardo Guerrero who will perform his first-ever solo creation “De Dolores” in Manila on the nights of June 14 and 15.

“The Unending Passion of the Zarzuela” is a collection of zarzuela pieces to be performed by Spanish tenor Enrique Viana and pianist Daniel Oyarzábal alongside a running commentary and several anecdotes on this lyrical genre stemming from the 19th and 20th century. This recital will run the audience through the zarzuela composed of seven romantic arias and several fantasias on the piano featuring some of its most celebrated pieces interpreted by two of Spain’s most celebrated musicians of today. 

This will not be the first time that Viana is performing in Manila and he believes that there is something special about the zarzuela that Filipinos, in particular, will come to appreciate. He says, “Between our two countries, there are many ties that link us especially in the area of culture. The two times that I have been to the Philippines to perform, I took the chance to look for recordings of Filipino singers of the 20th century and observed that there exists a common ‘love’ for melody between Spanish and Filipino music then. The zarzuela has a lot of melodies and ‘turns,’ and rhythm that have a distinct manner of making its way to the heart, much as I have found it to be in the case of Filipino music.”

Entrance to “The Unending Passion of the Zarzuela” is free with prior reservation. For ticket inquiries and reservations, call the CCP ticket office at 832-1125 loc. 1704 and 1705, or Instituto Cervantes at 526-1482 loc. 115.

“Sonidos de España: Spanish Festival at the CCP” is organized by the Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Spain in collaboration with the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Bench.