Marking the 150th anniversary of pivotal 20th-century Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s birth, popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin combines an illustrated lecture with live piano demonstrations to bring to life a slight, almost Chaplinesque figure whose music pulses with sensuality and spiritual intensity. Deeply sensitive, devout, and more than a little superstitious, de Falla transformed the evocative folk sounds of his native Andalusia into Modernist works of extraordinary color, wit, and drama.
From his roots in Cádiz, to Paris where he collaborated with the revolutionary Ballets Russes, and finally into exile in Argentina, Franklin examines how de Falla forged his unique, seductive voice with such enchanting stage and concert pieces as El amor brujo, La vida breve, and Noches en los jardines de España.
British-born Franklin has been a featured speaker for organizations including the Library of Congress and NPR, exploring intersections among classical and jazz music, film scores, and the fine arts.
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