"Inspirations" brings together three recent pieces from my catalog: Eulogy, Hologramas and my mini-opera Dear Diary. It was recorded in Barcelona by the Veu i Vent trio (Ximena Agurto, Eduardo Javier and Elías Romero) and tenor Roger Padullés. The album was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Peru and was recorded at the famous Liceu conservatory. It is available on several digital platforms, such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and many more.
Eulogy
Eulogy is a piece dedicated to the memory of my dear friend Rafael Salazar. I wrote it as a tribute to him, with poems in the three languages I speak. Rafael was one of the first friends that I was able to share my love for classical music with and, being a musician, he also played my music in many occasions. Sadly, in November 2019, at age 39, he was diagnosed with cancer. Despite all our hopes and his great will to live, he passed away on April 18, 2020.
Eulogy has three movements, each based on a poem. The first is based on Shakespeare's Sonnet XXX. The second is based on the poem "Los anillos fatigados", by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo, whose approximate translation into English you can read here. Finally, the third movement is based on the famous poem L'infinito by Giacomo Leopardi.
Hologramas
Hologramas (Holograms) is the result of a collaboration with the Peruvian librettist Maritza Núñez. It is based on a text by the same name written by her and dedicated to the children of Chernobyl. Adapted to an operatic scene by Maritza herself, Hologramas takes the apparent form of a children's tale, while at the same time revealing the shocking facts about what happens when the most vulnerable suffer the consequences of man's neglect.
Dear Diary
Dear Diary is a mini-opera based on extracts from the book "The Diaries of Adam and Eve", by Mark Twain. I wrote the script myself, using just a few sentences from Twain's book and arranging them in such a way as to produce a story with a convincing dramatic arc. It is dedicated to my grandmother, Gladys Garland.
You can read the full libretto of Dear Diary here.