Classical music
Between 1888 and 1890, Camille Saint-Saëns, at the height of his fame, but devastated by the death of his mother, moved to the Canary Islands. Here, in Las Palmas, the composer found a new lease of life, palpable in the Canarian Waltzes or The Bells of Las Palmas. A room in the Teatro Pérez Galdós in Las Palmas is called the Salon Saint-Saëns. The love affair between the Canary Islands and classical music is also illustrated by De Juan José Falcón Sanabria (1936-2015), a great Canarian composer and conductor, or the Canary Islands Music Festival. Since 1985, the event, one of the most popular in the archipelago, invites the best orchestras, soloists and international composers for sumptuous performances between Santa Cruz (Tenerife) and Las Palmas (Gran Canaria). Two cities, two poles of classical music in the Canaries. Or rather two twins who are gentle rivals. The first, Santa Cruz, is world famous for its Auditorium of Tenerife Adán Martín with its daring architecture. Designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava, this wave frozen in a "concrete helmet" is the most famous building in the archipelago. This is where the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST) has its headquarters. An ensemble considered by critics to be one of the best in Spain since the time when Burgos Víctor Pablo Pérez took over the direction between 1986 and 2006. A prestige maintained intact with its current young conductor, the talented Antonio Méndez, known for the vitality and complexity of his direction. The answer in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria) is the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium. Also an architectural curiosity and the work of Oscar Tusquets, it has two remarkable features: incredible acoustics thanks to wooden panels and a gigantic bay window behind the stage opening onto the sea. A magnificent setting. The place is home to the Las Palmas Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest in the world, created in the nineteenth century and conducted since 2017 by the famous British Karel Mark Chichon, guest conductor of the most prestigious orchestras in the world.
The island that saw the birth of Alfredo Kraus (1927-1999), a great tenor of his time, hosts an opera school whose name pays tribute to him - the Kraus Foundation - which regularly gives concerts of his students. The Tenerife Opera is part of the prestigious Music Festival and combines great classics with a more avant-garde repertoire in high quality productions.
Folk and traditional music
In the Canary Islands, music is around every corner. The omnipresence is a fundamental characteristic of Canarian music. Africa, America or Europe... its roots come from everywhere and have gone everywhere. Thanks to its well-preserved folklore, the Archipelago has "recorded" in its culture many episodes of its history. For example, traces of the Guanche era can be found in the use of drums and flutes almost systematically. In the seguidillas or folías, collective songs and dances that have disappeared from the mainland but remain here, the vestiges of the Spanish conquest can be seen. Conversely, the importance of the Canary Islands' emigration to Cuba and Venezuela is at the origin of many Latin American influences. The punto cubano (or punto guajiro or punto) is a genre born from the encounter between Canarian emigrants to Cuba and local populations. The latter incorporated elements of African music to the original version of the Canary Islands. By the same process, the malagueña, originally an Andalusian flamenco, became a very popular sound in Venezuela. Another illustration of the Canary heritage in Latin American aesthetics is Los Gofiones. Very popular in the archipelago, this local folklorist is also a hit in Latin America (and particularly in Cuba). It is impossible to talk about local music without mentioning the timple, the small guitar with four or five strings (depending on the island), which is iconic on the island. Among the great names of the instrument, the most illustrious are Toñín Corujo, José Antonio Ramos, Totoyo Millares and Benito Cabrera Hernández (also composer of the official anthem of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands).
It is easy to listen to traditional or folk music in the archipelago. Most of the main halls play the big names, with the Guiniguada Theater and the Pérez Galdós Theater in the lead. Otherwise... just listen. You can easily hear Canarian music accompanying dances in traditional festivals, pilgrimages or craft fairs on all the islands. It is worth noting that the beautiful Casa-Museo del Timple (Timple Museum) in Teguise (Lanzarote) regularly hosts concerts by good groups of this genre, and that on the same island, in Tenerife, three festivals take place in the summer: the La Laguna Folklore Festival in July, the Los Cristianos Folklore Festival in August, and the Sabandeños Festival, also in La Laguna, during the Christ Festival in September
Jazz and contemporary music
Not stifled, but more contained, the jazz and contemporary music scenes exist through a small local circuit. If groups like Big Band De Canarias work very well in the territory, the success of the Canarian saxophonist Kike Perdomo or the amazing guitarist Diego Barber shows that it is necessary to go abroad to be recognized internationally. In the archipelago, most stages offer jazz several times a month. That said, it is worthwhile to check out the program of the Teatro Guiniguada in Las Palmas or the Auditorio Kraus, which may contain some big names in the genre. As in many other areas in the Canary Islands, it is in the festivals that we see the headliners. Started in 1992, the Canarias Jazz & Mas festival has become an institution by inviting international stars (Macéo Parker, Avishai Cohen) every year. The opportunity to approach the masters of the genre while discovering the island talents. More anecdotally, the local music scene includes rock, reggae, a little bit of electro and can be seen on stage at the Teatro Leal in Tenerife and the Paper Club in Las Palmas.
Theater and dance
If the Canarian dances are directly inspired by the traditions of the XIXth century and the court dances, they have known the same diversity of foreign contributions as the traditional musics. The one does not go without the other. The tajaraste - a collective dance specific to Tenerife - as well as the sirinoque - "drum folklore" very present in La Palma - are of Guanche origin. Other dances were imported by the conquistadores such as the malagueña, a flamenco originally from Andalusia, or the santo domingo, also of religious inspiration. Naturally, each island has its own steps: the vivo is danced in El Hierro, the beautiful sorondongo in Lanzarote, theisa in Gran Canaria, the tanganillo in Tenerife and a local polka in Fuerteventura... Not especially represented on stage, one can nevertheless be sure to come across these dances during some of the events. Every year in January, Ingenio in Gran Canaria organizes the Tenderete Canario de Candelaría, a popular festival held on Candlemas and Saint Blaise. In Lanzarote and Puerto del Carmen, traditional music and dances are particularly popular during the Virgin of Carmen celebrations. Lovers of contemporary dance will also find happiness in the Masdanza. Every year since 1996, this contemporary dance festival, which takes place from the end of October to mid-November, has been expanding throughout the archipelago. The program grows in depth and interest every year. Of note in Las Palmas is the Sala Insular de Teatro, which has some great contemporary dance performances, and the Centro Coreográfico de la Gomera (Tenerife) for the boldness of its young artists in residence.
The contemporary theater festival "Encuentros" promotes new writing, every year from October to December, through an ambitious program. Encuentros and Masdanza are two emanations of the Victoria Theater in Santa Cruz (Tenerife), a place founded by Carmen Werner, one of the greatest Spanish choreographers. On the Canary Islands, theater, dance and music share the same programming in the same places. Among them, the Pérez Galdós Theater in Las Palmas rarely disappoints, whatever the discipline offered. Nestled at the beginning of the picturesque Calle Mayor de Triana, this beautiful 1919 building designed by local architect Manuel Martín Fernandez de la Torre stands out for its frescoes and the tropical exuberance of the Saint-Saëns salon. In the same neighborhood, further north, we find the Teatro Cuyá. In this very modern building, it is a general public theater that is offered with special attention to the local scene. In Santa Cruz (Tenerife), the Teatro Guimera is very popular. Built in 1847, this theater was the first architectural project of the then booming city. This building of classical romantic architecture was built by Manuel de Oraa in the place of the old convent of Santo Domingo. Affectionately called "la bombonera " by its inhabitants, this theater hosts part of the Canary Islands Music Festival in January and February of each year and programs contemporary theater (local and international authors) as well as dance (the Ballet of Tenerife can be seen there from time to time). The place is also worth visiting for its beauty and history.
