Spain in its many voices: Teatro Real’s third Carnegie Hall gala

The third New York gala presented by Madrid’s Teatro Real brought together a mostly Spanish programme featuring Spanish soloists and the Orquesta Titular del Teatro Real, conducted by David Afkham – German-born but long associated with the Orquesta Nacional de España. Even Ravel, the sole French composer on a programme titled “A Musical Fantasy from Spain”, had deep ties to the country, making his inclusion feel apt for the evening’s focus on colour and rhythm.

Two of his well-known works framed the second half, though both fell short of their expressive potential. Alborada del gracioso, originally a sharply etched piano miniature from Miroirs, draws on Spanish rhythms and inflections for its characteristically ironic tone, and arguably sounds better in its original guise. In its orchestral version, the textures felt a tad dense and the rhythmic bite dulled, muting its sardonic flair. La Valse, which closed the evening, fared better in terms of polish but not entirely in portraying the piece’s complexity. What should unravel as a danse macabre remained poised and elegant throughout. The sweeping phrases were finely shaped, but the undercurrents of decay felt muted, with style prevailing over dissolution.

The only clear departure from the evening’s Iberian focus came with Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, a work that fuses the lyrical breadth of late Romanticism with the harmonic glow of Hollywood. Still in her early twenties, María Dueñas offered a performance of rare self-assurance. From the opening bars of the Moderato nobile, she established a burnished tone, her phrasing supple yet assertive. Each entrance was keenly shaped: the soaring theme unfolded with warmth and eloquence, and her double-stops in the cadenza were dispatched with refined clarity rather than bravura display. The Romance, rooted in Korngold’s Oscar-winning score for Anthony Adverse, was the interpretive centrepiece – a songful meditation that let Dueñas linger in the upper register with exquisite control.

The final Allegro assai vivace, with its ebullient theme recycled from The Prince and the Pauper, showcased Dueñas’ rhythmic precision and sense of play. Afkham matched her agility with finely sculpted tuttis and buoyant momentum, while the orchestra, responsive and well-balanced throughout, added a touch of Viennese sweep in a performance that never lapsed into sentimentality.

Soprano Saioa Hernández, making her American debut, performed arias and romanzas ranging from the brooding intensity of Manuel de Falla’s La vida breve to lighter zarzuela fare by Penella and Serrano. Her firmly projected voice brought weight to the aria “¡Allí está! Riyendo junto a esa mujé,” though the excerpt felt somewhat isolated without its dramatic context. Hernández showed greater ease in the zarzuela numbers, shaping the melodic lines with flexibility and flair, though occasionally leaning into declamatory phrasing at the expense of nuance. As an encore, she offered Torroba’s “La Petenera” from La Marchenera, performed with confidence and dramatic presence.

The orchestra opened the evening with Turina’s Danzas fantásticas, a compact, colour-saturated triptych written when Spanish composers like Turina and Falla were adapting regional idioms to broader European trends, especially those from Paris. Drawing on dance forms from Aragon, the Basque Country and Andalusia, the work highlights Turina’s flair for vivid orchestration and contrast. The ensemble navigated its shifting moods with clarity and control, offering clean articulation and phrasing without exaggerating the music’s exuberance. In other orchestral contributions, the players brought rhythmic precision to Falla’s Danza no. 1 from La vida breve and, as an encore, offered the Intermezzo from Gerónimo Giménez’s La boda de Luis Alonso, played with lightness and colour. These selections underscored the stylistic breadth and theatrical verve of Spain’s folkloric tradition.