He paid tribute to greats of Mexican music by brilliantly concluding Spring Season 2023
Tenor Carlos Osuna did it again in his homeland. Around 700 souls sang, applauded and cheered during the concert ¡Así suena el mariachi!, presented on the night of Thursday, July 20th at the Ángela Peralta Theater with which Spring Season 2023, produced by the Instituto Municipal de Cultura, Turismo y Arte de Mazatlán, concluded brilliantly.
Carlos Osuna sang, danced and whistled with pure pleasure in this presentation accompanied by the mariachi music of the Traditional Mexican Ensemble, directed by Samuel Murillo; male voices from the Ángela Peralta Choir, directed by Mary Murillo; the joyful dance of the Ballet Folklorico of the Institute of Culture of Mazatlán under the guidance of Javier Arcadia and the prodigious voice of the Mazatlecan mezzo-soprano Sarah Holcombe.
Asi suena el mariachi! traveled through various eras of Mexican music. With his performance, Carlos Osuna paid tribute to Pedro Infante, Javier Solís, José Alfredo Jiménez, Vicente and Alejandro Fernández and recalled the music of great composers such as Rubén Fuentes, Agustín Lara, Armando Manzanero and Martín Urieta, among others.
It’s a pleasure for me to return to my land and have the theater full!, he expressed while his gaze traveled through the cultural room and a satisfied smile was drawn on his face.
Asi suena el mariachi! show, produced by Raúl Rico González and Abril Márquez, was enriched by Karla Jaqueline Aguirre’s Multimedia; Elisa Espinosa’s wardrobe; Lighting by Ángel Hiram Salomón and sound by Ariel Villanueva.
The Mazatlan artist was happy to return to the city where he was born to surprise and please the public with his vocal reach and stage domain in a Mexican music concert that he really wanted, after thirteen years of singing opera in different languages in Europe.
For almost two hours of the show, the member of the Soloist Ensemble of the Vienna State Opera exalted himself on stage and was surrounded by the affection of the audience that, as usually happens every time he performs in the port, filled the orchestra area and all the balconies of the theater.
Among friends, family and people who usually follow his career as a lyrical singer, the Mazatlan tenor was full of joy, entertaining and witty to the liking of the public who did not stop singing and bathed him in applause and bravos as a reward for his artistic professionalism and his total dedication.
Carlos Osuna came out to sing wearing a charro suit, a short jacket and black pants, silver buttons and a white bow tie, and as the concert wore on he stripped off his clothing until he was left in his shirt sleeves.
He used the wide-brimmed white hat sporadically and with it he made a fuss when singing the vibrant paso doble ‘Silverio’ (Pérez) by great Mexican composer, musician and poet Agustín Lara.
‘El cartero’, ‘Camino Real a Colima’, ‘Bonito Tecalitlán’ and ‘El cascabel’ gave minutes of glory to the Choir and the mariachi made up of musicians from the Sinaloa Symphony Orchestra of the Arts.
The night was full of surprises, such as the participation of the Mazatlan mezzo-soprano Sarah Holcombe, with whom he performed “Perdón” by Pedro Flores, among other songs that are very present in the preference of Mexicans.
Carlos and Sarah formed an artistic duo united for years by a friendship that fills their lives. The public enjoyed the performance of two different personalities that harmonized and complemented each other to the delight of all.
Carlos Osuna began his performance with the interpretation of “Cien años” and “Amorcito corazón” to pay tribute to the great idol of Mexico, Pedro Infante, and although the first few minutes had barely passed, he managed to get the audience to sing along with him.
Later he offered a tribute to Javier Solís with ‘Sombras’, emblematic theme of the so-called Rey del Bolero Ranchero; he sang with deep feeling “En tu pelo” by Luis Demetrio, which he personally likes a lot and dedicated “Divine Women” by Martín Urieta to maestra Yolanda Urquijo, his high school director and who, together with maestra Cristina de Vadillo, discovered that he had the artistic talent to excel in singing.
He paid tribute to Vicente and Alejandro Fernández and moved the audience with ‘Volver volver’, ‘Abrázame’ and ‘Como quién perdere una estrella’, without neglecting other bolero greats such as Armando Manzanero, from whom he sang an emotional ‘No’, in the final part of the concert, but no one was willing to let him go and with shouts and applause they made him return to the stage.
What came next was a total symbiosis, a visual and auditory delight: ‘El Rey’, ‘Cielito lindo’, ‘México lindo y querido’ and the ‘Corrido a Mazatlán’ accompanied in the last three songs by mezzo-soprano Sarah Holcombe, both brought out the best in their voice and artistic performance by constantly slanting across the stage as they invited the audience to join the grand choir for a brilliant and festive culmination of the concert.
