Visits
The bolero lover had a full house at the venue with his show “La Sinfonía de la Memoria”, where he applauded 11 singer-songwriters of romantic music
WRITING
Before 10,000 spectators, the National Auditorium surrendered last Sunday, November 9, to The Symphony of Memory, the great spectacle of Rodrigo de la Cadenawho offered a historic night without guest artists, conquering the most important venue in Latin America on his own merit.
For almost three hours of music, emotion and memory, the audience received him standing, accompanied him through tears and laughter, and bid him farewell with a unanimous ovation. Attendees from all over the country and from different places abroad traveled expressly to witness this artistic celebration that paid tribute to eleven fundamental composers of our musical history: María Grever, Luis Demetrio, Vicente Garrido, Álvaro Carrillo, Consuelo Velázquez, Roberto Cantoral, Agustín Lara, Emma Elena Valdelamar, Armando Manzanero, José Alfredo Jiménez and Juan Gabriel.
The guest state was Veracruz, whose Xalapa Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of maestro Abraham Barrera, masterfully accompanied the performer. From the first note, the Auditorium was transformed into a sound and visual altar to Mexican musical memory: warm lights, antique furniture of refined taste, immersive projections and a “stage portal” that—with theatrical intelligence, precise scripts and audiovisual technology—allowed the eleven authors to symbolically return to life to dialogue with Rodrigo and the public.
“I did not reach the National Auditorium for a viral song, nor for a fashion, nor for a marketing strategy. I came the long way: that of work, perseverance and the conviction of a lifetime dedicated to bolero,” declared Rodrigo de la Cadena in one of the most applauded moments of the night.
AN EMOTIONAL AND SCENIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORY OF BOLERO
The show opened with María Grever, recreated between translucent gauze and the performance of “Júrame”, followed by “I love you, you said” and “When I return to your side”. From there, The Symphony of Memory It unfolded as a theatrical and symphonic work that traveled through poetic universes: the Yucatecan romanticism of Luis Demetrio, the filin of Vicente Garrido, the elegance of Consuelo Velázquez, the Oaxacan poetry of Álvaro Carrillo, the bohemian genius of Agustín Lara, the sensitivity of Emma Elena Valdelamar, the greatness of Armando Manzanero, the heart of the town of José Alfredo Jiménez, the perfection melodica of Roberto Cantoral, and the immortal passion of Juan Gabriel.
At the end of the concert, the lights of the Auditorium illuminated the “portal of memory” with the images of the eleven honored composers, while Rodrigo, visibly moved, concluded by saying: “Everything you saw and heard tonight is made with love, with truth and with the Made in Mexico seal,” he concluded.
DID YOU KNOW WHAT?
At 36 years old, Rodrigo de la Cadena culminates with this concert a career of more than two decades dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of the bolero.
