VICTOR HUGO MORALES
Journalist

I first became interested in Enrique Roel after some isolated comments about his career came to my ear. Without any formal musical instruction, merely from the standpoint of the one who simply loves music and confirms his intuitions with the joy a fine work sets on his soul, I discovered the great artist that all my experienced friends pointed out as a gifted and talented creator.
Conclusive proof of this -both for the critics and me, the simple spectator- came to the fore when the premiere of Roel’s “Double Concerto for Piano, Violin, and String Orchestra” delighted a speechless audience enchanted by the impeccable performance of the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra at the Colon Opera House in 2002. The work Maestro James Brooks-Bruzzese chose for this occasion consists of three movements that reveal Roel’s remarkable formation, and his profound expertise in the use of varied musical languages that enrich his own composition. Tango compasses with their inherent melodic strength are a strong presence, which make us imagine the composer’s hand reaching new materials, such as water is taken from a fountain.
Each time I listen to Roel’s music I find new things. This is exactly what happens with compositions that grow at the rhythm of our own joy, earning a place within the musical atmosphere all of us build up to treasure in our souls.
Balanced in length and originality, each movement gives us a hint of the atmosphere of this city we live in, the impressionism that avoids melodic facilism, or a distant remembrance of Ravel’s crescendos.
Always a rich and attractive palette, an orchestration that keeps us up, a dialogue of the instruments that is sometimes rough and now sweet. When I started playing it on the radio, the audience’s reaction challenged the coordinates by which I move my radio shows: accessible music that does not imply a strong effort, which does not take the listener’s attention away. I hold to the idea that a whole new range of audience may be introduced to this world harmed by preconceptions, such as the one that mandates that music commonly called “classical” is restricted only to expert elites. When I presented the Double Concerto I knew that –as many times before – I widened my horizons to an audience I invited to share the joy of Roel’s music. The audience’s response was so enthusiastic that the pleasure for his music gave way to the delight of the tremendous success and acknowledgement to the wide range of artists that contribute to the immense artistic capital of our country. And, as music can be much more eloquent than words, I have nothing else to do but to encourage those who still haven’t been touched by the magic of Roel’s music to join the joy.

Victor Hugo Morales.