Apr 2023
A start to 2023 full of successes for Judith Jáuregui
Judith has received a wide-ranging applause from the critics for her different projects of the first quarter of 2023.
Following the recording of her upcoming album with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León in January, Judith joined the ADDA Simfònica and its principal conductor, Josep Vicent, in Alicante to perform The Nights in the Gardens of Spain by Manuel de Falla. This was celebrated by Ritmo magazine, which in its review commented that “from the mysterious and serene concept the author indicates for ‘In the Generalife’, the suggestive episode that opens this work, the pianist entered the nocturnal climate that characterizes his music with an intimacy exposed with distinction and elegance, a delicate sensibility to which the conductor’s indications adapted to and who, at all times, understood the feeling that Judith Jáuregui wanted to express, leaving us both with a feeling of natural and consented acquiescence, assuming the essence of the ‘duende’ of the music.”
Her following symphonic alliance was in Mexico, in the season of the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM conducted by Enrique Diemecke, this time with Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. According to the review published by Bachtrack, it was a “moving Ravel’ that ‘the Spanish pianist Judith Jáuregui tackled with mastery, highlighting the simple and carefree melodies. The piano solo at the beginning of the second movement was played with an adequate rubato, transmitting a pathos that impregnated the movement until the end, a “niente” masterfully executed. And “The energetic final movement was played with the same attention to detail as the two previous ones” with which “Jáuregui received a warm ovation.”
In her return to the Auditorio Nacional of Madrid, the Auditorio de Zaragoza and the Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón, Judith was joined for a chamber music project by the Korean violinist Soyoung Yoon and the Swiss cellist Nadège Rochat. The trio received a 5 star review by the Heraldo de Aragón, which highlighted the “need of Jáuregui’s piano to express itself with timbre and chromatic amplitude, which reached at some points an orchestral resonance.” Daily La Nueva España described the concert as the “union of three stars” underscoring that “the proposal of bringing together these three star performers was promising and indeed dazzled. Yoon, Rochat and Jáuregui not only played well everything that is written in the score. They have a tremendous personality which shines through their instruments, breathing life into works and making an impact on the listener to the point of offering us the best concert of the season so far.” Likwise, daily El Comercio stated that “the programme of the concert made up of a trio of youth of Debussy, the Trio for piano of an expressive romanticism of Arensky, and Brahm’s Trio no. 1 of serene melancholy. All the works were performed under the vision and sonority of the ensemble, which saw a combination of sound cohesion and homogeneity with a rich variety from each individual player”. It was “a concert in which the sense of dialogue, the electrifying melodies, the well underlined accents and the relationship between the players are much more than the sum of parts”.
Jáuregui returned to Madrid a few weeks later for the premiere of the Antiformalist Rayok cantata by Shostakovich, together with the great bass Alexander Teliga and the Soloists of the Choir of the Teatro Real at the Círculo de Bellas Artes. Before being joined by the rest of the artists on stage, Judith began the soirée with several piano solo works by the Russian composer. According to Scherzo Magazine, “Jáuregui’s interpetration of Shostakovich’s Children’s Notebook and Aphorisms was brilliant, with a refined technique and great style.” About the cantata, “bass, choir and pianist developed an excellent work, delivering the cantata to the audience in a warm and direct manner”. Opera Actual highlighted an “excellent Judith Jáuregui at the piano, providing a dense enveloping and dense accompaniment, full of nuances. Previously, Jáuregui had interpreted the beautiful Children’s Notebook and the decidedly more unsettling suite, titled Aphorisms, both by Shostakovich: a great recital of sophistication and aesthetic simplicity.”
Judith is now preparing for her upcoming commitments, with a focus on Schubert that will take her to several Spanish stages, a chamber music project with which she will travel to the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in Ireland, and Shostakovich, which she will present in the Festival Internacional de Música of Granada together with the Mandelring Quartett.