Mexico-based new music pianist Ana Cervantes tends to garner raves everywhere she performs. Part of the reason for that is her “enormous passion” and “interpretive mastery” of music so rarified and difficult that you almost have to be born to play it. This week, Cervantes makes her L.A. debut with what promises to be an electrifying and unmatched solo recital of 17 commissioned pieces inspired by Spanish writer/photographer Juan Rulfo entitled “Rumor de Paramo.” Based on Rulfo's 1955 magical-realist tale Pedro Paramo, about family tragedy and ghostly interference, the work is a global collaboration of compositions by England's Paul Barker, Brazil's Silvia Berg, Mexico's Mario Lavista, the U.S.'s Anne LeBaron and others. As Cervantes observes, “These piano pieces represent a fascinating collective effort to capture Juan Rulfo's intangible universe of desolate plains, fires, and moors. The participating composers have achieved their goal with diverse tools and techniques, emphasizing Rulfo's penchant for mystery and rumor, murmur, and allusion.”

Wed., Sept. 30, 8:30 p.m., 2009

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