‘Cuarteto’ provides bridge between cultures

‘Cuarteto’ provides bridge between cultures

By Omid Bürgin-Esmai’li

Take a dose of tango, bossa nova and lambada, mix that with a
European art form, and add some multicultural ideology and there
you have it: the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, a renowned string
quartet known for promoting mostly contemporary works of Latin
American composers.

The quartet performs this Sunday at Schoenberg Hall.

Consisting of three brothers ­ violinists Saul, Aaron and
cellist Alvaro Bitrán ­ and one close childhood friend
from Mexico City violist Javier Montiel, the quartet has been very
successful in contributing to the visibility of Latin American
composers inside and outside of Latin America. For many, this
prompted a discovery of South American music.

Can the quartet’s success be attributed to the popular appeal
Latin American music has internationally with its rhythms and
popular dances? Possibly. Or is the ever-multiplying
Spanish-speaking population being more aware of its culture?
Maybe.

It is not so much these external conditions, but talent that
makes the recordings outstanding with polished and powerful
performances.

This reflects the sophistication of Mexico City, one of
America’s most vibrant cultural centers. While in the United
States, the audience goes to classical concerts more to be seen and
reaffirm its societal status, the audience in Mexico has been
described as a catalyst for new music.

The quartet agrees that even with the marketing advantage of
projecting itself as a quartet with a Latino accent, members had to
fight against the prejudice that a group coming from Mexico would
not possibly be able to play Beethoven or Brahms at an
internationally competitive level.

"We had to overcome much of the suspicions against a Mexican
group playing the Western Classical repertoire, since there was no
history of Mexicans playing this repertoire. There was no objection
towards us playing the Latin American compositions, and it helped
us to build up credibility," says Aaron Bitrán in a telephone
interview.

On their initial European and U.S. tours they were indeed asked
to restrict themselves to Latin American repertoire, but they have
since build up an international reputation of not only recorded
Latin American composers, but also works by Ravel, Dvorak, Borodin,
Gershwin, Puccini and others.

Aaron Bitrán emphasized that they would select music for
content first and then make a selection for its national identity.
The reason they play so many compositions by Latin American
composers is "(if we don’t play it) no one else will play and
promote pieces by young Latin American composers."

The problem, Aaron Bitrán stresses, is that it is almost
impossible to identify Latin American music. The unifying factor,
although rather hypothetical, is that "Latin American music puts
publicly common elements such as rhythm in front compared to the
European emphasis on melody and harmony."

He agrees that there are as many European influenced trends in
Latin American music as there are native Indian or African American
influences. The UCLA program features exactly such a division of
Latin American string quartets from the early and late 20th century
repertoire.

First the more rhythmic pieces: The Quartet No. 8 by Heitor
Villa-Lobos (Argentina) is rooted in a combination of American
Indian and African-American sounds from Brazil, "Four for Tango" by
Astor Piazzolla (Argentina) is rhythmically based on a tango from
Argentina, and "Metro Chabacano" by Javier Alvarez (Mexico)
integrates urban rhythms from Mexico City. This piece is actually
named after a Mexico City subway station.

The second group shows a more European influence: "Yiddishbuk"
by Osvaldo Golijov (Argentina) is a piece inspired by Stravinsky as
well as Jewish folk music. "Two Sketches in Quarter Tones" by
Julian Carrillo (Mexico) sounds like "a late Romantic Schoenberg
lost in a microtonal haze."

This selection certainly will give an excellent overview of
recent trends and developments in the Latin American music scene
and a great introduction for new listeners of that musical
tradition, especially since many of the pieces are L.A.
premieres.

Aaron Bitrán expressed a regret of not having included a
work by Manuel Enríquez, one of the most respected
contemporary Mexican composers. Enríquez, who was a visiting
professor at the UCLA music department last year died unexpectedly
and is dearly missed by student, staff and faculty. The program was
put together before his death.

Hopefully we’ll overcome the romantic and neo-national trends of
recent times of classifying music on a prejudgmental level and can
look at music on a higher unifying basis, transcending nationality.
As Aaron Bitrán puts it, "good music simply is good music and
that should be the only factor to be considered."