We here at the OSO seem to the welcoming committee for conductors who are making their first forays into the North American market this year. Earlier this month we welcomed Pietari Inkinen of Finland, who was in his second week of being in America (after a week in Cincinnati).
This week we welcomed a visitor from warmer climes: Juanjo Mena of Bilbao, Spain.
Due to the vagaries of our scheduling rules, we had a single rehearsal on Monday, followed by two days off, then the rest of the rehearsals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Initial impressions? Well, as he, himself admitted, his English isn’t great, but it’s a LOT better than my Spanish, and what he lacks in vocabulary he makes up for with voice modulation, singing, and elaborate hand gestures. The fact that he looks a bit like Fat Tony from The Simpsons doesn’t hurt – I immediately took a liking to him. He’s a genial fellow.
In regards to his conducting style, he’s one of these “beautiful hands” conductors who look great as they create great, sweeping arcs in the aerial real estate in front and above themselves, but don’t always provide precision movements that help the ensemble ground itself. Â I’m all for anything that’s beautiful, and so long as he follows Google’s edict of “do no evil” as he gestures, then it’s all good for me.
More to come as the week progresses…