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Saturday Night Classics: Ernesto Lecuona ‘La Malagueña’

Andrew Troutman
@Dotorimuk
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I forgot I was up for Saturday Night Classics tonight, so I’m serving this one hot and hasty.

When I worked in classical radio in Oklahoma, I had a few different jobs, including announcing and playing music, and going out to record concerts. I became familiar with Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona’s “La Malagueña” after hearing Cristiana Pegoraro perform it as an encore whenever she swung through town.

When I had a few minutes to fill during my air shift, I often liked to play short ragtime or other swell piano pieces. Joplin, Gottschalk, Piazzolla, Comfrey, Nazareth and Lecuona. The classical purists often didn’t dig.

I always liked Ernesto Lecuona when I heard him. He started out in Cuba and eventually left after he saw the havoc Castro was wreaking. He ended up in Florida, as all Cubans do.

I found a Cristiana Pegoraro performance, and I want to include that, since I heard her play it at least a dozen times:

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Discussion (7)

  • Orange Gerald@Jose

    “La Malagueña” is a personal favorite. My mother learned to play it as a young woman, and performed it as a duet with her piano teacher at the recital one year. She would give it a go occasionally while I was growing up and I always enjoyed hearing it.

    Many years later Mom and I visited the piano teacher and they gave it another go. They were a bit rusty but they had a lot of fun. That was the first time I heard it played by a duet and it really added another dimension to the piece. There are a lot of duets on YT but I chose this one because it clearly shows what each player is doing.

    Good Stuff!

  • Susan Quinn@SusanQuinn
    ReplyingtoOrange Gerald

    Orange Gerald (View Comment):

    “La Malagueña” is a personal favorite. My mother learned to play it as a young woman, and performed it as a duet with her piano teacher at the recital one year. She would give it a go occasionally while I was growing up and I always enjoyed hearing it.

    Many years later Mom and I visited the piano teacher and they gave it another go. They were a bit rusty but they had a lot of fun. That was the first time I heard it played by a duet and it really added another dimension to the piece. There are a lot of duets on YT but I chose this one because it clearly shows what each player is doing.

    Good Stuff!

    Very cool! I loved it!

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