San Francisco Symphony: My Classic Spanish Flair July 12, 2012

No matter that three Frenchmen and a Russian contributed pieces to a concert focused on Spanish favorites. This vibrant music readily recalls a Spain of fragrant gardens, gypsy sirens, and warm days and sultry nights by the sea. The lone Spaniard on the program is Rodrigo, who contributes a lovely and lyrical work for classical guitar. And anchoring the program is Ravel's wildly popular Bolero, whose pounding rhythms and intoxicating tune raises pulses of listeners from Aruba to Zaire.