{"id":9997,"date":"2018-05-15T16:32:57","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T23:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=9997"},"modified":"2018-06-01T12:03:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T19:03:17","slug":"mabel-millan-and-her-grammy-winning-brouwer-recording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/mabel-millan-and-her-grammy-winning-brouwer-recording\/","title":{"rendered":"Mabel Mill\u00e1n and her Grammy-winning Brouwer Recording"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>BY TH\u00c9R\u00c9SE WASSILY SABA | <a href=\"https:\/\/store.elizabethl27.sg-host.com\/collections\/featured-products\/products\/no-390-summer-2018\">FROM THE SUMMER 2018 ISSUE OF <em>CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On November 16, 2017, at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Award ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada, the great Cuban composer and conductor Leo Brouwer was awarded a trophy for<b> <\/b>Best Classical Contemporary Composition<i> <\/i>for his <i>Sonata del Decamer\u00f3n Negro<\/i>, performed by<b> <\/b>the young classical guitarist Mabel Mill\u00e1n on her first recording,<b> <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Js3wSq\"><i>Gran Recital<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 Mill\u00e1n, who is from the town of Montilla, south of C\u00f3rdoba, Spain, was in Las Vegas, in part to accept the award on Maestro Brouwer\u2019s behalf\u2014and also to soak up the atmosphere, of course. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cHe got in contact with me before the gala because he should have been attending it,\u201d Mill\u00e1n says. \u201cI have a good friendship with Leo and with his wife, Isabelle [Hern\u00e1ndez, an acclaimed Cuban musicologist]. I was with them in C\u00f3rdoba and they asked me whether I would be going to the gala in Las Vegas and I told them I would.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ELw_ppWeTQA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Brouwer has a strong musical link with C\u00f3rdoba: He was the founder and conductor of the Orquesta de C\u00f3rdoba in Spain, which he established in 1992. And although he is now living in Cuba again, his connection with both the city and the orchestra remains strong: In 2010, a youth orchestra was established in his name\u2014La Joven Filarmon\u00eda Leo Brouwer; and in October 2017, he traveled there to conduct the 25th anniversary concert of the Orquesta de C\u00f3rdoba.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Once Mill\u00e1n arrived in Las Vegas, she and the Brouwers \u201cwere in contact the whole time, and the first telephone call I made was to them to let them know that he won the Latin Grammy! I went to the red carpet for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">The <i>Sonata del Decamer\u00f3n Negro <\/i>is Brouwer\u2019s third solo sonata for guitar. The four-movement work\u2014\u201cG\u00fcijes y gnomos,\u201d \u201cTreno por Oy\u00e1,\u201d \u201cBurlesca del aire,\u201d and \u201cLa risa de los griots\u201d\u2014is dedicated to Greek guitarist Costas Cotsiolis, who premiered the work on May 18, 2013 at the Koblenz International Guitar Festival in Germany. In Brouwer\u2019s unique, eclectic way, the work brings together some of the important musical influences and powerful forces in his life: Cuban mythology; the Yoruban goddess of tempests and strong winds (Oy\u00e1); Afro-Cuban rhythms; the music of Luys de Mil\u00e1n and Francisco T\u00e1rrega; as well as his own earlier compositions, such as <i>Danza del Altiplano<\/i> from his <i>Tres piezas latinoamericanas<\/i>. The title <i>Sonata del Decamer\u00f3n Negro<\/i>, is a reference to an earlier, three-movement work for solo guitar from 1981, <i>El Decamer\u00f3n Negro<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Mill\u00e1n admits that at the Grammy ceremony, \u201cI didn\u2019t have anything prepared, and when they said the name of the <i>Sonata<\/i>, I went quickly onto the stage and I was very nervous, but I remember thanking Leo Brouwer and Isabelle. Above all, though, I had to thank the guitar for all it had given me\u2014the person it has made me today; all the traveling and getting to know people\u2014and also for the difficult times. I have had some things that didn\u2019t go so well, such as in competitions, but there is always some compensation\u2014all this recognition, winning the Grammy; it is my instrument. All of this was a magnificent experience.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Still only 24 years old, Mill\u00e1n already has a long list of prizes she has won for her guitar-playing over the years, including the David Russell Award for Young Talent in 2008; the First Prize and Public Prize in the 19th Concurso Internacional Fundaci\u00f3n Jacinto e Inocencio Guerrero 2012; and a three-prize win at the 2014 Certamen Internacional de Guitarra Miguel Llobet, where she won First Prize, the Public Prize, and the prize for the Best Interpretation of a work by Llobet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\"> Mill\u00e1n has a twin sister, Celia, a pianist with whom she often performs. I wondered how they came to choose their instruments.<i> <\/i>\u201cMy sister Celia had no doubt about wanting to play the piano. For me, I loved the guitar because it is an instrument which is very easy to carry with you wherever you go and you can use it to accompany songs, not only in the area of classical. So for me, it was the ideal instrument and I did all that I could to dedicate myself to it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Growing up where she did, did her interests in non-classical music include flamenco? \u201cI love it very much,\u201d she says. \u201cI play Paco de Luc\u00eda\u2019s <i>Entre dos Aguas<\/i> a lot with my sister. I love it! Paco de Luc\u00eda is someone who I have admired not only for his technical abilities but also for his music and his approach. I used to go to every concert I could to hear Paco de Luc\u00eda play\u2014and also [flamenco guitarist] Vicente Amigo. I <i>try<\/i> to play, but I am not an expert in flamenco. I play some <i>fandangos <\/i>just by ear and some <i>tonadillas. <\/i>I play <i>Sevillanas<\/i>, which are typical of the region where we live here in Andalusia, but I don\u2019t play flamenco professionally.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">I ask who wrote the arrangement of<i> Entre dos Aguas<\/i> she plays with her sister. \u201cWe do our own arrangements because there is not a lot of music for guitar and piano. We can\u2019t limit ourselves to the repertoire that already exists; we have to create things ourselves. I think it is a great thing to do with whatever music that you love, to try to arrange it.\u201d I have heard Mabel and Celia play together in concert, and it was excellent. I was excited by their refined musicianship, their incredible closeness in articulation and long-range dynamic control; it was an unforgettable experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Their successful musical careers are impressive. What is even more remarkable is that alongside this, both Mabel and Celia have been studying law. Mabel explains, \u201cIt was just a path we chose as something viable for the future. As musicians, we rely a lot on our hands. And it was also to have an alternate path for earning a living. In Spain, classical music is not so valued, so we wanted to have another form of support, although music is what we like the most.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Is it difficult to combine the two careers? \u201cMy sister is working as a lawyer now,\u201d Mabel says, \u201cbut at the moment, instead of working as a lawyer, I am studying to become a judge. It\u2019s complicated; it takes five years to prepare for the final assessment. You have a dedicated person who is your guide throughout this. There are three exams and a year-long assessment examination. But certainly, it does leave me freer. For example, if I have a concert coming up, I can decide that for that particular week, I won\u2019t study\u2014although this does put me behind in my studies a little. Now I am about to go to Colombia to give a master class and a concert, and I don\u2019t have that pressure of having to finish work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">With a high level of self-motivation, does she feel that she is also flying a flag for women and their potential? \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she replies. \u201cI have always gone to lots of competitions and there were two or three girls and ten or 20 guys. So perhaps in this regard, when I recorded the Ponce <i>Concerto del Sur<\/i>, which had never been recorded by a woman. . . . I am also the first woman classical guitarist to have won a Latin Grammy, so I am proud. I don\u2019t know what to call this path, but it is a shame that there is such a distinction made between men and women.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s also impressive that Mill\u00e1n\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2Js3wSq\"><i>Gran Recital<\/i><\/a> album was just her first recording. \u201cI recorded it in Mexico,\u201d she says. \u201cThe guitar festival in Culiac\u00e1n, in Mexico, invited me to perform there and in the following month they offered to record a CD. I really wanted to record <i>Sonata del Decamer\u00f3n Negro<\/i> because it would be a premiere recording, and so that people who would study this work would have this recording as a reference. Leo Brouwer was very happy with the recording\u2014with the interpretation that I played.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Plans for Mill\u00e1n to make second recording are still waiting to be finalized. \u201cIf I make another recording, perhaps I will leave the Spanish repertoire to one side,\u201d she comments, \u201ca little because I think that is what people are used to hearing me perform in concert, so I would prefer the recording to give a different perspective of my work. Otherwise, they might think that I am limited to one style of repertoire. Perhaps I will record Latin American music, which I like a lot, such as the works of Barrios. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Returning to the Brouwer work, she concludes, \u201cI used to think that I didn\u2019t like contemporary music and that perhaps I wouldn\u2019t be able to interpret it well. However, everything that we are interested in, we can achieve.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c9pncRAyRys\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY TH\u00c9R\u00c9SE WASSILY SABA | FROM THE SUMMER 2018 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR On November 16, 2017, at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Award ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada, the great Cuban composer and conductor Leo Brouwer was awarded a trophy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his Sonata del Decamer\u00f3n Negro, performed by the young classical guitarist Mabel Mill\u00e1n on her first recording, Gran Recital.\u00a0 Mill\u00e1n, who is from the town of Montilla, south of C\u00f3rdoba, Spain, was in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/mabel-millan-brouwer-classical-guitar.jpg?fit=1302%2C781&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}