EL CANTO DEL CISNE NEGRO

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The first CD album I made as a duo with the Dominican cellist Nicole Peña Comas. With El canto del cisne negro (The Song of the Black Swan), we, Duo Selvaggio,  present a collection of still largely unknown compositions for violoncello and piano from Latin America. The inspiration for the title O canto do cisne negro comes from Heitor Villa-Lobos' extracts from his symphonic poem Naufrágio de Kleônicos. The varied program focuses on the sonatas for violoncello and piano by Manuel Ponce and Constantino Gaito. Otoño in Buenos Aires, a piece for solo violoncello by the Mexican composer José Elizondo, shows the colors and variety of the instrument. Latin American composers such as Poce, Gaito, Villa-Lobos, Nin, and Saglie traveled to Europe to study music and were torn between their admiration for the culture of the old continent and their nostalgia and newfound appreciation of their own cultural roots. We share their experience, and their music resonates deeply with us.