Page 516 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

Roberto Sierra: Symphony No. 6, Sinfonietta for Strings etc Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra/Domingo Hindoyan (Onyx)

Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra (b.1953) was a name I’d not come across before. A
glance at his CV is intriguing; surely Sierra’s instinctive ear for colour and texture owes
something to his time spent studying with Ligeti in the 1980s? This collection of orchestral music
serves as a superb introduction to an intriguing figure, and you’ll probably find that it satisfies a
craving that you didn't know you had. Wait until the neighbours are out, and listen at high
volume. Domingo Hindoyan’s collection neatly showcases Sierra’s populist and serious sides,
though he’s still thrillingly accessible at his most astringent. So we move from the five-
minute Alegria, a propulsive, upbeat showpiece composed in 1996, to the more recent Dos
piezas para orquesta, the first of which is a searing lament. Sierra describes the different facets
of his musical personality as Apollonian and Dionysian, so the second half’s giddy scrabblings
are what you’d expect. Hindoyan secures punchy, passionate playing from the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic, and Onyx’s engineering is spectacular. My favourite work here is Sierra’s
2020 Sinfonietta for String Orchestra, composed at short notice for Hindoyan to conduct at a