We recently came across this wonderful video that came out a number of months ago, featuring Pablo Villegas promoting his home region in northern Spain, Rioja. The video shows the beauty and variety of the famous wine-growing area, and since Pablo is the focus, there’s a great guitar soundtrack. We asked him to tell us a little about the circumstances of making the promo and the music he plays in it.
“The video was filmed all around Rioja,” he told us. “I was recently named the Cultural Ambassador for Rioja Tourism, and in the video I play a short version of the Gran Jota by Tárrega. The boy in the beginning of the video is a guitar student from Rioja and it was partly filmed at the Rioja Airport.
“The jota is the typical music from the region. As you might know, Rioja is famous for its wines, and jota is the music played to celebrate the harvest season. Jotas typically are a magnificent show consisting of mandolins, guitars, dancers, singers, everyone wearing traditional costumes in white and red. Rioja is also famous for being a part of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela (famously known as the Camino de Santiago). Rioja is also famous for its gastronomy, hikes, and natural parks in the fall. It is additionally celebrated as the crib of the Spanish language, since its here where the first document written in Spanish was found in a monastery of the 6th century [San Millán de Suso], listed as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage site.”
Advertisement
In other Pablo Villegas news, his long anticipated duo album with Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo, called Volver, will be released on October 12, 2018 on the Sony Classical label. And on September 13 at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl, Pablo will be playing the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Plácido Domingo conducting, and they are expected to also perform a few pieces from their duo album.
