Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra

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The Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra (Spanish: Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México) is an orchestra of international rank founded and underwritten by the government of Mexico. The home venue is the Silvestre Revueltas Hall at the Ollín Yoliztli Cultural Center [es] in Tlalpan, Mexico City, which opened in 1979.

Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra
Native nameOrquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México
Founded1978
Location5141 Periférico Sur, Tlalpan, Mexico City
Concert hallSilvestre Revueltas Hall, Ollín Yoliztli Cultural Center
Principal conductorScott Yoo
Websiteofcm.cultura.cdmx.gob.mx

History

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The Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1978 by the National Government of Mexico through an initiative by Carmen Romano, wife of then President of Mexico José López Portillo.[1] The Philharmonic was part of a plan to make fine arts education accessible to youths. The government launched classical music workshops and formed professional orchestras, including the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra. Fernando Lozano Rodríguez [es] was the founding conductor. The Philharmonic's venue name, ollín yoliztli, means "life movement" or "life force" in Náhuatl.

Directors, members, and notable soloists

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La Orquesta Sinfónica de la Ciudad de México in the Silvestre Revueltas Hall of the Centro Cultural Ollin Yoliztli

Guest conductors have included Leonard Bernstein, Eduardo Mata, and Enrique Diemecke. Guest soloists have included Martha Argerich, Narciso Yepes, Nicanor Zabaleta, Renata Scotto, Birgit Nilsson, Claudio Arrau, János Starker, Isaac Stern, Plácido Domingo, and María Teresa Rodríguez [es]. Artistic directors are appointed by the Secretary of Culture of Mexico City.

Artistic directors

Principal guest conductors

  • 2011–2013: José Areán, appointed Principal Guest Director June 2011[4]

Assistant conductors

Associate conductors

Musicians

  • 1978–1979: Jerome (Jerry) Ashby (1956–2007), french horn; became associate principal french horn with the New York Philharmonic in 1979
  • Morris T. Kainuma (born 1959), tuba; appointed principal tuba in 1980; currently a freelance and educator in the New York City area
  • John Emmanuel Godoy (1959) was appointed principal timpanist in 1987. During his tenure, the Mexico City Philharmonic performed four concerts with tenor Plácido Domingo, including recording Lalo Schifrin's world premiere of Cantos Aztecas. Godoy later won the principal timpani position with the Corpus Christi Symphony under John Giordano. In 2011 he founded the Lux Musicae chamber group and became its artistic director.

Awards and critical acclaim

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Ollín Yoliztli Cultural Center

The Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra has made over 100 recordings, most of them of works by Mexican composers. The Philharmonic is reputed to be the most prolifically recorded orchestra of music by Mexican composers. In 1981, it won the Academie du Disque Francais Grand Prize for its recording of Mexican Ballets by Blas Galindo, José Pablo Moncayo, and Carlos Chávez. Fernando Lozano Rodríguez was the conductor.[6] The jury stated that the Philharmonic was the best in Latin America.

In 2001, the Mexico City Philharmonic was nominated for Best Classical Recording in the inaugural Latin Grammy Awards. The Mexican Union and Theater Critics Philharmonic Mexico City and Music as the best of the year, calling it "The Best Orchestra of Mexico, 2000".[clarification needed][This quote needs a citation]

Selected discography

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  • Works of De Falla, Desto DC 7216 (1982); OCLC 24746534Fernando Lozano Rodríguez [es], conductor
  • Classical Music of Mexico, Desto DC 7218 (1982); OCLC 16351742 – Fernando Lozano Rodríguez, conductor
  • Music of Revueltas, Desto DC 7215 (1982); OCLC 16351737 – Fernando Lozano Rodríguez, conductor
  • Gabriel Fauré, Musical Heritage Society (1991); OCLC 23294557 – Recorded in 1989 at the Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall [es], Mexico City; Rodolfo Bonucci, violin (grandson of the Italian cellist, Arturo Bonucci [it] (1894–1964); Viocheslav Ponomarev (1950–2009), cello; Enrique Bátiz, conductor
  1. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (world premiere recording)
  2. Berceuse, for violin and orchestra, Op. 16
  3. Elegie, for cello and orchestra, Op. 24
  4. Overture, from Masques et bergamasques, Op. 112
  5. Nocturne, from Shylock, Op. 57
  6. Pelléas et Mélisande: Suite, Op. 80
  1. Fanfare for the Common Man
  2. Lincoln Portrait

References

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  1. ^ "Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra", Naxos Records (retrieved August 19, 2014)
  2. ^ "La Filarmónica de la Ciudad ya tiene director artístico", by Manuel Lino, El Economista, January 10, 2013
  3. ^ "Scott Yoo" (online biography), Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, Ministry of Culture of Mexico City (retrieved November 4, 2016)
  4. ^ "José Areán, director huésped principal de la OFCM", El Economista, June 14, 2011
  5. ^ a b Maestros in America: Conductors in the 21st Century by Roderick L. Sharpe & Jeanne D. Stierman, Scarecrow Press (2008), pp. 67 & 199; OCLC 183609216
  6. ^ Ballets Mexicains: Chavez – Moncayo – Galindo – Orchestre Philharmonique De Mexico, Fernando Lozano Rodríguez, Forlane (1981); OCLC 609985941
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