Modern Classics
Carlos Miguel Prieto’s Music for the World
Carlos Miguel Prieto says he can’t dance and he’s no good at golf. Those may be the only pursuits that elude him. As a youngster, growing up in Mexico City, he wanted to play violin. So, he did. As a teenager, he wanted to become an engineer. So, he did. As a young man, he wanted to run a business. So, he did. And, in the 1990s, Prieto decided to give up industry and become a symphony conductor. So far, so good.
“I’ve been doing it for about 20 years now and I thought maybe at some point I’m not going to love it as much as I do now,” he told Gwen recently. “I still do.”
Prieto has conducted the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra for over a decade. He also leads the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico (OSN), as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (OSM). In 2015, Prieto toured with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. Factor in his work as a popular guest conductor around the world and it’s fair to say that Prieto is a success story in classical music.
“Success (in the arts) is measured in a very, very different way. Leonard Bernstein — one of the greatest conductors, composers and pianists of the 20th century — used to say, ‘You can learn to keep the beat in five minutes. But you learn to conduct over your whole life.’ It’s the difference between beating time in Beethoven (No.) 5 and conducting Beethoven (No.) 5 and getting a performance of Beethoven (No.) 5.”
Connect with Carlos Miguel Prieto
Facebook | Wikipedia | LPO | YOA Orchestra of the Americas
Friends of the Family
Being receptive to new sounds seems to run in the Prieto family. Carlos’ grandparents were at the heart of the tightly knit artistic community of Mexico City and had Frida Khahlo and Diego Rivera as neighbors. The relationships they built and the relative refuge of Mexico during World War II put them in touch with some of the world’s greatest progressive musical minds. Guests of the Prietos included Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Casals, Arthur Rubinstein, Aaron Copeland, Dmitri Shostakovich and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Louie the Buoy
Like all great artists, great conductors often draw inspiration from unexpected places… like children’s books!
Louie the Buoy, by Allain C. Andry III so inspired Prieto that he commissioned the young New Orleans composer Tucker Fuller to orchestrate a new piece of music. Louie the Buoy the musical recently debuted at Roussel Hall at Loyola.
Hear the whole story here:
Louie the Buoy Extra
It Moves Us Not
In 2020 Prieto and Tucker Fuller collaborated yet again — this time mounting a movement from Fuller’s symphony titled It Moves Us Not. The performance streamed on November 13, 2020, as part of the LPO’s on-line concert service. Here’s what Tucker says about this work:
It Moves Us Not is a symphony in four movements, each movement taking its title from Wordsworth’s sonnet, The World Is Too Much with Us, in which the poet condemns a world that he believes has become too materialistic and disconnected from nature. The whole symphony was inspired by the sturm und drang spirit of Mozart’s 40th Symphony, and uses a similarly sized orchestra. The movement … was originally written in 2013 and then revised in May 2020 (with the additional movements being written this past summer). The other pieces on the program include Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and a symphony by Chevalier Saint-Georges.
“I haven’t been under my own radar.”
In 2019 Carlos Miguel Prieto was nominated Conductor of the Year by Musical America Worldwide. Learn more here.
Checklist for the Classically Curious
To the unfamiliar the world of classical music can come off as very intimidating. Fortunately, Prieto gave us a list of materials to help the uninitiated get their feet wet. These are his top picks:
- Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
- Mozart’s “Jupiter Symphony”
- Bach’s “Saint Matthew Passion”
- Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”
- Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”
Carlos Miguel Prieto Playlist
The playlist for this show can be found here.
Coping With the Times, Sweetly
Like musicians everywhere, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020 has had to come up with new strategies for dealing with a global pandemic.
One of these solutions is (of course) streaming performances on-line. But the LPO is offering a new twist — music and munchies! For those who subscribe to their “Suite Sundays” series, they’re offering “a box of exquisite sweets and a bottle of a limited edition 30th Anniversary LPO wine delivered to your home by an LPO musician.” Details on the LPO website.
On November 8, 2020, New Orleans composer/pianist Courtney Bryan performed two of her own compositions: Spirits and Elegy. The LPO Chamber Players also performed works by Handel and Dvořák.
