Song of the Stars features
Douglas Riva, Gerardo Rábago and 125 singers

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (October 8, 2010) – Discovered again nearly 100 years after its 1911
Barcelona premiere, Enrique Granados’s Cant de les Estrelles (Song of
the Stars) is truly a masterpiece. Written as a virtuoso piano concerto for the
composer himself and accompanied by chorus and organ, this work gloriously
combines modern romantic poetry and luxurious harmonies. VocalEssence is performing Song of the Stars with guest
conductor Gerardo Rábago and pianist
Douglas Riva (pictured) on Friday, January
28th, 2011 (8 pm) at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. Tickets ($10-$40) are
available by calling 612-371-5656 or by visiting www.vocalessence.org. Student
and group discounts are available. 

Never
published, the score for Song of the
Stars was recovered in 2004, in part through the efforts of American
pianist Douglas Riva, who has been called “one of the principal apostles of
Granados’s music” by El País Madrid. VocalEssence is thrilled to now
present him on piano with guest conductor Gerardo Rábago leading the program. It
is a timely performance which commemorates the 200th anniversary of Mexican
independence.

Song of the Stars was performed only
once – in March, 1911 – by Granados himself, at the Palau de la Música in
Barcelona. Song of the Stars was lost
during the turbulent aftermath of Granados’s death from a 1916 U-boat torpedo
attack on the vessel taking him back to the European continent. The manuscript
for this work was taken to New York by his son, Victor, and sold to a small
publishing house there, only to be forgotten and presumed lost in a warehouse fire.

Thanks
to the internationally-acclaimed performer of Granados’s repertory, Douglas
Riva, a manuscript for the work was rediscovered. It was the missing piano
score, in dreadful condition, but restorable. After years of searching by
Granados’s descendants, musicologist Walter Clark (author of Enrique
Granados, Poet of the Piano), and Riva, the work was published in 2005 in
Barcelona and made available for performance. Song of the Stars received its U.S. premiere two years ago in New
York.

For
additional press information, please contact Malia Cole (mcole@vocalessence.org,
612-547-1459) or visit www.vocalessence.org. High-resolution photographs can be
downloaded from the VocalEssence website at http://tinyurl.com/ve-photos.