South Florida Classical Review

Juanjo Mena

Another distinguished conductor will debut with the New World Symphony this weekend, leading the orchestra in a program of exotically scored works from France and Spain.

Juanjo Mena, chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, who recently led performances by the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony, will conduct the orchestra Saturday and Sunday in pieces by Manuel de Falla, Camille Saint-Saëns and Maurice Ravel.

Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, a Spanish-flavored work from 1919, will be heard in full, rather than the excerpts through which audiences usually experience it. Performing the vocal role will be the mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider, a singer well-known to South Florida audiences for her appearances with Seraphic Fire and Florida Grand Opera.

The Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, whose performance of a Chopin concerto was the highlight of one of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami concerts, will play Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2, a swashbuckling work in the grand virtuoso manner.

The concerts will close with the lush, shimmering harmonies of Ravel’s Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe, considered one of the composer’s greatest works.

The New World Symphony will perform 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at New World Center in Miami Beach. nws.edu; 305-673-3331.

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