Public television rebroadcasts Mariachi program on August 6
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 4, 2006
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán
Photos: Adrian Mealand, Richard Haughton
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will air “Mariachi: The Spirit of Mexico,” on August 6. The program made its national premiere on May 3, 2003 and features presentations from the 9th Annual International Mariachi Festival, a ten-day program held in Guadalajara in September 2002. Operatic Tenor Placido Domingo, who is a mariachi enthusiast, narrates the program.
“I have loved Mariachi ever since I first came to Mexico from Spain as a child. When I courted my wife, I hired mariachi singers to serenade her just as lovers do today. So how could I pass up a chance to experience the greatest mariachi festival in the world,” said Domingo, who also performed his favorite Mariachi song, “Paloma Querida.”
Plácido Domingo
The music list of “Mariachi” ranges from passionate love songs where performers are covered in red and white rose petals to celebratory anthems of Mexican culture. The program includes some of the festival’s 500 mariachis performing in concert halls and street markets. These include Mariachi America, Mariachi Los Caballeros , Mariachi Los Camperos, Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlan, Mariachi Real Jalisco, and Mariachi Vargas performing such songs as “El Mariachi, Pajarillo, (LittleBird),” “La Negra (The Dark-Skinned Girl),” “La Fiesta del Mariachi,” and “Guadalajara.”
The program was produced by WLIW New York in association with KCET Hollywood. More information on television listings can be found on PBS.org — Sergio Carmona
